The nootropic agents noopept and piracetam alter the amplitudes of acetylcholine-induced influx currents (ACh currents) in command neurons in the common snail. Both compounds have cholinopositive activity. The dose curve of the actions of noopept is bell-shaped, while the piracetam dose-response curve in the range of physiological concentrations shows a monotonous rise. Noopept increases the ACh current at low concentrations (10–10–10–8 M), while piracetam acts at significantly higher concentrations (starting from 10–4 M). The magnitudes of the maximal cholinopositive effects of noopept and piracetam (in the range of physiological concentrations) were identical, while the concentrations of nootropic drugs at which they were reached differed by seven orders of magnitude. The half-maximal concentration (EC50) of noopept was 10–10 M and that of piracetam was 10–3 M. The mechanisms of the cholinopositive actions of these drugs are discussed.
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Translated from Zhurnal Vysshei Nervnoi Deyatel’nosti imeni I. P. Pavlova, Vol. 68, No. 4, pp. 537–548, July–August, 2018.
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Razumovskaya, M.A., Murzina, G.B., Ostrovksaya, R.U. et al. Modulation of Nicotinic Receptors in Neurons in the Common Snail by Noopept and Piracetam. Neurosci Behav Physi 49, 1127–1134 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11055-019-00849-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11055-019-00849-2