Summary
In this paper it was studied the role of histamine and histamine receptors in the hippocampus of rats on an active avoidance response induced by an ultrasonic tone. The animals had to learn to walk through a swinging door into a safe compartment only after the conditioning ultrasonic tone was on in order to avoid an electric shock to their feet. Trained animals were implanted in the ventral hippocampus with microinjection cannulae and injected twice with 1 μl of saline solution containing pyrilamine (PYR, H1-HA antagonist), ranitidine (RAN, H2-HA antagonist) or histamine. The histamine antagonists were applied in a dose of 65.5 nmol each while histamine was administered in a dose of 45 nmol. The two variables measured were the time in sec the rats take to present the conditioned avoidance response and the accumulated percentage of conditioned avoidance response (CAR). Results showed that histamine administration significantly increased the latency time to escape and decreased the % CAR. These effects were not blocked by the administration of RAN. However, administration of PYR completely counteracted the HA effects. Present findings confirm our previous findings about the inhibitory effect of histamine on the hippocampal retrieval mechanisms and give further support to the hypothesis that HA acts on the memory processes in the hippocampal formation, by activation of H1-histamine receptors.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alvarez EO, Banzan AM (1986) Histamine in dorsal and ventral hippocampus. II. Effects of H1 and H2 histamine antagonists on exploratory behavior in male rats. Physiol Behav 37: 39–45
Alvarez EO, Banzan AM (1990) Behavioral effects of GABA in the hippocampal formation: functional interaction with histamine. Behav Brain Res 37: 133–143
Alvarez EO, Banzan AM (1992) The role of histamine in the anterior hypothalamic area and its functional interaction with the hippocampus on exploratory behavior in adult male rats. Behav Brain Res 48: 127–133
Alvarez EO, Banzan AM (1995) Effects of localized histamine microinjections into the hippocampal formation on the retrieval of a conditioned avoidance response in rats. J Neural Transm [Gen Sect] 101: 201–211
Bertaccini G, Coruzzi G (1981) Evidence for and against heterogeneity in the histamine H2-receptor population. Pharmacology 23: 1–13
Bertaccini G, Coruzzi G (1983) Histamine H2-receptors: a homogenous population? Ital J Gastroenterol 15: 51–58
Bianchin M, Walz R, Ruschel AC, Zanatta MS, Da Silva RC, Bueno e Silva M, Paczko N, Medina JH, Izquierdo I (1993) Memory expression is blocked by the infusion of CNQX into the hippocampus and/or the amygdala up to 20 days after training. Behav Neural Biol 59: 83–86
Bingman VP, Yates G (1992) Hippocampal lesions impair navigational learning in experienced homing pigeons. Behav Neurosci 106: 229–232
Bliss TVP, Collingridged GL (1993) A synaptic model of memory: long-term potentiation in the hippocampus. Nature 361: 31–39
Daly MJ, Humphray JM, Stables R (1981) Some in vitro and in vivo actions of the new histamine H2-receptor antagonist, ranitidine. Br J Pharmacol 72: 49–54
Ennis M, Lorenz W (1984) Histamine receptor antagonists. In: Parnham MJ, Bruinvels J (eds) Discoveries in pharmacology, vol 2. Haemodynamics and inflammation. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 623–645
Heidbreder C, Roques B, Vanderhaeghen JJ, de Wittie Ph (1988) Kelatophan, a potent enkephalinases inhibitor, presents opposite properties when injected intra-cerebroventricularly or into the nucleus accumbens on intracranial self-stimulation. Neurochem Int 12: 347–350
Hörtnagl H, Berger ML, Sperk G, Pifl Ch (1991) Regional heterogeneity in the distribution of neurotransmitter markers in the rat hippocampus. Neuroscience 45: 261–272
Inagaki N, Yamatodani A, Ando-yamamoto M, Tohyama M, Wanatabe T, Wada I (1988) Organization of histaminergic fibers in the rat brain. J Comp Neurol 273: 283–300
Izquierdo I, Bianchin M, Bueno M, Silva E, Zanatta MS, Walz R, Ruschel AC, Da Silva RC, Paczko N, Medina J (1993) CNQX infused into rat hippocampus or amygdala disrupts the expression of memory of two different tasks. Behav Neural Biol 59: 1–4
Kamei C, Okumura Y, Tasada K (1993) Influence of histamine depletion on learning and memory recollection in rats. Psychopharmacology 111: 376–382
Kesner RP, Crutcher K, Beers DR (1988) Serial position curves for item (spatial location) information: role of the dorsal hippocampal formation and medial septum. Brain Res 454: 219–226
Kubo T, Kohira R, Okano T, Ishikawa K (1993) Neonatal glutamate can destroy the hippocampal CA1 structure and impair discrimination learning in rats. Brain Res 616: 311–314
McDonald RJ, White NM (1993) A triple dissociation of memory systems: hippocampus, amygdala, and dorsal striatum. Behav Neurosci 107: 3–22
Nilsson OG, Brundin P, Björklund (1990) Amelioration of spatial memory impairment by intrahippocampal grafts of mixed septal and raphe tissue in rats with combined cholinergic and serotonergic denervation of the forebrain. Brain Res 515: 193–206
O'Keefe J (1990) A computational theory of the hippocampal cognitive map. In: Storm-Mathisen J, Zimmer J, Ottersen P (eds) Progress in brain research. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 301–312
Parkinson JK, Murray EA, Mishkin M (1988) A selective mnemonic role for the hippocampus in monkeys: memory for the location of objects. J Neurosci 8: 4159–4167
Reempts JV, Dikova M, Werbrouck L, Clincke G, Borgers M (1992) Synaptic plasticity in rat hippocampus associated with learning. Behav Brain Res 51: 179–183
Richter-Levin G, Segal M (1989) Spatial performance is severly impaired in rats with combined reduction of serotonergic and cholinergic transmission. Brain Res 477: 404–407
Save E, Buhot MC, Foreman N, Thinus-Blanc C (1992) Exploratory activity and response to a spatial change in rats with hippocampal or posterior parietal cortical lesions. Behav Brain Res 47: 113–127
Schmajuk NA, DiCarlo JD (1992) Stimulus configuration, classical conditioning, and hippocampal function. Psychol Rev 99: 268–305
Sloviter RS, Nilaver G (1987) Immunocytochemical localization of GABA-, cholecystokinin-, vasoactive intestinal polypeptide- and somatostatin-like immunoreactivity in the area dentata and hippocampus of the rat. J Comp Neurol 256: 42–60
Sutherland RJ, McDonald RJ (1990) Hippocampus, amygdala, and memory deficits in rats. Behav Brain Res 37: 57–79
Vanderwolf CH (1987) Near-total loss of “learning” and “memory” as a result of combined cholinergic and serotonergic blockade in the rat. Behav Brain Res 23: 43–57
Volpe BT, Davis HP, Towle A, Dunlap WP (1992) Loss of hippocampal CA1 pyramidal neurons correlates with memory impairment in rats with ischemie or neurotoxin lesions. Behav Neurosci 106: 457–464
Watanabe T, Taguchi Y, Shiosaka S, Tanaka J, Kubota H, Terano Y, Tohyama M, Wada H (1984) Distribution of the histaminergic neuron system in the central nervous system of rats. A fluorescent immunohistochemical analysis with histidine decarboxylase as marker. Brain Res 295: 13–25
Weskamp G, Lorez HP, Keller HH, Otten U (1986) Cholinergic but monoaminergic denervation increases nerve growth factor content in the adult rat hippocampus and cerebral cortex. Naunyn Schmiedebergs Arch Pharmacol 334: 346–351
Zola-Morgan S, Squire LR (1993) Neuroanatomy of memory. Annu Rev Neurosci 16: 547–563
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Alvarez, E.O., Banzan, A.M. Hippocampal histamine receptors: Possible role on the mechanisms of memory in the rat, II. J. Neural Transmission 103, 147–156 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01292623
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01292623