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Neuromodulatory Mechanisms of a Memory Loss-Preventive Effect of Alpha-Lipoic Acid in an Experimental Rat Model of Dementia

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Abstract

This study evaluates some of the neuromodulatory mechanisms of the memory loss preventive effect of alpha-lipoic acid (ALA) in a scopolamine (Sco)-induced rat model of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) type dementia. Our results confirmed that Sco administration induces significant memory impairment, worsens exploratory behaviour and habituation, increases acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity, and induces pathological monoamine content changes in the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus. ALA administration largely prevented Sco-induced memory impairment. It also improved exploratory behaviour and preserved habituation, and it decreased AChE activity, reversing it to control group levels, and corrected aberrant monoamine levels in the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus. According to the data available, this is the first time that ALA-induced changes in AChE and monoamine levels in the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus (brain structures related to learning and memory) have been demonstrated in a Sco-induced rat model of AD type dementia.

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Availability of Data and Materials

The material used during the present study is available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Data Availability Statement

The authors confirm that all data generated or analysed during this study are included in this published article.

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Acknowledgements

This work is supported by the Bulgarian Ministry of Education and Science under the National Program for Research “Young Scientists and Postdoctoral Students”.

Funding

This work is supported by the Bulgarian Ministry of Education and Science under the National Program for Research “Young Scientists and Postdoctoral Students”.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Medicine, Medical University of Sofia, 2 Zdrave St, 1431, Sofia, Bulgaria

    Hristian Staykov & Rumen Nikolov

  2. Institute of Neurobiology, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Acad. Georgi Bonchev St, 1113, Sofia, Bulgaria

    Maria Lazarova, Yozljam Hassanova, Miroslava Stefanova & Lyubka Tancheva

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  1. Hristian Staykov
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  2. Maria Lazarova
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  3. Yozljam Hassanova
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  4. Miroslava Stefanova
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  5. Lyubka Tancheva
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  6. Rumen Nikolov
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Contributions

Conception and design [Lyubka Tancheva], [Maria Lazarova], and [Rumen Nikolov]. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by [L. Tancheva], [M. Lazarova], [Hristian Staykov], [Yozljam Hassanova], [Miroslava Stefanova]. The first draft of the manuscript was written by [M. Lazarova] and all authors comment on previous version of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Maria Lazarova.

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The experiments have been performed strictly according to the national regulations and European Communities Council Directive (86/609/EEC) also Principles of laboratory animal care (NIH publication No. 85-23) concerning the protection of animals used for scientific and experimental purposes. All efforts and study design was made with purpose to minimize number of the animals and their suffering.

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Staykov, H., Lazarova, M., Hassanova, Y. et al. Neuromodulatory Mechanisms of a Memory Loss-Preventive Effect of Alpha-Lipoic Acid in an Experimental Rat Model of Dementia. J Mol Neurosci 72, 1018–1025 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12031-022-01979-y

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