Abstract
The effects of nicotine on carbon monoxide (CO)-induced amnesia in mice were investigated using a step-down type passive avoidance task. Mice were exposed to CO 3 times at 1-h intervals, 7 days before the first training and retention test and 24 h after the first training session. Memory deficiency occurred in mice when training commenced more than 3 days after CO exposure (delayed amnesia): the median step-down latency in the retention test of the CO-exposed group was significantly shorter than that of the control group. Administration of (−)-nicotine (15.6 and 31.3 nmol/kg, IP) 15 min before the first training session prolonged the step-down latency in the CO-exposed group, but (+)-nicotine did not. To determine whether this effect of (−)-nicotine was mediated via nicotinic cholinergic receptors, we attempted to block its action using a nicotinic acetylcholine receptor antagonist (mecamylamine). Mecamylamine (1.25 µmol/kg) blocked the effect of (−)-nicotine (31.3 nmol/kg) on delayed amnesia. Administration of (−)-nicotine (15.6–62.5 nmol/kg) immediately after the first training session failed to ameliorate learning ability in the CO-exposed group. These results suggest that (−)-nicotine potentiates the nicotinic cholinergic neuronal system and may potentiate acquisition of memory.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ando S, Kametani H, Osada H, Iwamoto M, Kimura N (1987) Delayed Memory Dysfunction By Transient Hypoxia, And Its Prevention With Forskolin. Brain Res 405: 371–376
Barlow RB, Oliverio A, Satta M, Thompson GM (1970) Some central effects in mice of compounds related to nicotine. Br J Pharmacol 39: 647–652
Bartus RT, Dean RL, Beer B, Lippa AS (1982) The cholinergic hypothesis of geriatric memory dysfunction. Science 217: 408–417
Beninger RJ, Wirsching BA, Jhamandas K, Boegman RJ (1989) Animal studies of brain acetylcholine and memory. Arch Gerontol Geriatr Suppl 1: 71–78
Brazell MP, Mitchell SN, Joseph MH, Gray JA (1990) Acute administration of nicotine increases the in vivo extracellular levels of dopamine, 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid and ascorbic acid preferentially in the nucleus accumbens of the rat: comparison with caudate-putamen. Neuropharmacology 29: 1177–1185
Bunnell DE, Horvath SM (1988) Interactive effects of physical work and carbon monoxide on cognitive task performance. Aviat Space Environ Med 59: 1133–1138
Clarke PBS (1987) Nicotine and smoking: a perspective from animal studies. Psychopharmacology 92: 135–143
Coyle JT, Price DL, DeLong MR (1983) Alzheimer's disease: a disorder of cortical cholinergic innervation. Science 219: 1184–1190
Decker MW, Majchrzak MJ (1992) Effects of systemic and intracerebroventricular administration of mecamylamine, a nicotinic cholinergic antagonist, on spatial memory in rats. Psychopharmacology 107: 530–534
Ginsberg MD (1979) Delayed neurological deterioration following hypoxia. Adv Neurol 26: 21–44.
Haroutunian V, Barnes E, Davis KL (1985) Cholinergic modulation of memory in rats. Psychopharmacology 87: 266–271
Hiramatsu M, Koide T, Ishihara S, Shiotani T, Kameyama T, Nabeshima T (1992) Involvement of the cholinergic system in the effects of nefiracetam (DM-9384) on carbon monoxide (CO)-induced acute and delayed amnesia. Eur J Pharmacol 216: 279–285
Hodges H, Allen Y, Sinden J, Lantos PL, Gray JA (1990) Cholinergic-rich foetal transplants improve cognitive deficits in lesioned rats, but exacerbate response to cholinergic drugs. Prog Brain Res 82: 347–358
Hodges H, Allen Y, Sinden J, Mitchell SN, Arendt T, Lantos PL, Gray JA (1991) The effects of cholinergic drugs and cholinergic-rich foetal neural transplants on alcohol induced deficits in radial maze performance in rats. Behav Brain Res 43: 7–28
Imperato A, Mulas A, Di Chiara G (1986) Nicotine preferentially stimulates dopamine release in the limbic system of freely moving rats. Eur J Pharmacol 132: 337–338
Ishimaru H, Nabeshima T, Katoh A, Suzuki H, Fukuta T, Kameyama T (1991) Effects of successive carbon monoxide exposures on delayed neuronal death in mice under the maintenance of normal body temperature. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 179: 836–840
Jones GMM, Sahakian BJ, Levy R, Warburton DM, Gay JA (1992) Effects of acute subcutaneous nicotine on attention, information processing a short-term memory in Alzheimer's disease. Psychopharmacology 108: 485–494
Kameyama T, Nabeshima T, Noda Y (1986) Cholinergic modulation of memory for step-down type passive avoidance task in mice. Res Commun Psychol Psychiatr Behav 11: 193–205
Larson PS, Silvette H (1975) Tobacco, experimental and clinical studies. A comprehensive account of the world literature. Williams and Wilkins, Baltimore, 1961, suppl. I, II, III, 1968, 1971, 1975
Levin ED (1992) Nicotinic systems and cognitive function. Psychopharmacology 108: 417–431
Levin ED, Castonguay M, Ellison GD (1987) Effects of the nicotinic receptor blocker, mecamylamine, on radial-arm maze performance in rats. Behav Neural Biol 48: 206–212
Levin ED, McGurk SR, South D, Butcher LL (1989) Effects of combined muscarinic and nicotinic blockade on choice accuracy in the radial-arm maze. Behav Neural Biol 51: 270–277
Levin ED, Lee C, Rose JE, Reyes A, Ellison G, Jarvik M, Gritz E (1990a) Chronic nicotine and withdrawal effects on radial-arm maze performance in rats. Behav Neural Biol 53: 269–276
Levin ED, Rose JE, McGurk SR, Butcher LL (1990b) Characterization of the cognitive effects of combined muscarinic and nicotinic blockade. Behav Neural Biol 53: 103–112
Martin BR, Aceto MD (1981) Nicotine binding sites and their localization in the central nervous system. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 5: 473–478
Martin BR, Tripathi HL, Aceto MD, May EL (1983) Relationship of the biodisposition of the stereoisomers of nicotine in the central nervous system to their pharmacological actions. J Pharmacol Exp Ther 226: 157–163
Maurice T, Hiramatsu M, Itoh J, Kameyama T, Hasegawa T, Nabeshima T (1993) Cholecystokinin-related peptides, ceruletide and CCK-8, protect against carbon monoxide (CO)-induced amnesia in mice. J Cereb Bood Flow Metab 13: S693
McGaugh JL (1973) Drug facilitation of learning and memory. Annu Rev Pharmacol 13: 229–241
Nabeshima T, Yoshida S, Morinaka H, Kameyama T, Thurkauf A, Rice KC, Jacobson AE, Monn JA, Cho AK (1990) MK-801 ameliorates delayed amnesia, but potentiates acute amnesia induced by CO. Neurosci Lett 108: 321–327
Nabeshima T, Katoh A, Ishimaru H, Yoneda Y, Ogita K, Murase K, Ohtsuka H. Inari K, Fukuta T, Kameyama T (1991) Carbon monoxide-induced delayed amnesia, delayed neuronal death and change in acetylcholine concentration in mice. J Pharmacol Exp Ther 256: 378–384
Newhouse A (1990) Cholinergic drug studies in dementia and depression. Adv Exp Med Biol 282: 65–76
Newhouse PA, Sunderland T, Thompson K, Tariot PN, Weingartner H, Mueller ER, Cohen RM, Murphy DL (1986) Intravenous nicotine in a patient with Alzheimer's disease. Am J Psychiat 143: 1494–1495
Nordberg A, Bergh C (1985) Effect of nicotine on passive avoidance behavior and motor activity in mice. Acta Pharmacol Toxicol 56: 337–341
Oei TPS, King MG (1980) Catecholamines and aversive learning: a review. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 4: 161–173
Reavill C, Stolerman IP (1990) Locomotor activity in rats after administration of nicotinic agonists intracerebrally. Br J Pharmacol 99: 273–278
Sahakian B, Johes G, Levy R, Gray J and Warburton D (1989) The effects of nicotine on attention, information processing, and short-term memory in patients with dementia of the Alzheimer type. Br J Psychiatry 154: 797–800
Sansone M, Castellano C, Battaglia M, Ammassari-Teule M (1990) Oxiracetam prevents mecamylamine-induced impairment of active, but not passive, avoidance learning in mice. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 36: 389–392
Sansone M, Castellano C, Battaglia M, Ammassari-Teule M (1991) Effects of oxiracetam-nicotine combinations on active and passive avoidance learning in mice. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 39: 197–200
Sarter M (1991) Taking stock of cognition enhancers. Trends Pharmacol Sci 12: 456–461
Sasaki H, Yanai M, Meguro K, Sekizawa K, Ikarashi Y, Maruyama Y, Yamamoto M, Matsuzaki Y, Takishima T (1991) Nicotine improves cognitive disturbance in rodents fed with a choline-deficient diet. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 38: 921–925
Warburton DM, Wesnes K (1984) Drugs as research tools in psychology: cholinergic drugs and information processing. Neuropsychobiology 11: 121–132
Whitehouse PJ, Martino AM, Antuono PG, Lowenstein PR, Coyle JT, Price DL, Kellar KJ (1986) Nicotinic acetylcholine binding sites in Alzheimer's disease. Brain Res 371: 146–151
Yoshida S, Nabeshima T, Kinbara K, Kameyama T (1992) Effects of NIK-247 on CO-induced impairment of passive avoidance in mice. Eur J Pharmacol 214: 247–252
Zornetzer SF (1978) Neurotransmitter modulation and memory: a new neuropharmacological phrenology? In: Lipton MA, DiMascio A, Killam KF (eds) Psychopharmacology: a generation of progress. Raven Press, New York, pp 637–649
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hiramatsu, M., Satoh, H., Kameyama, T. et al. Nootropic effect of nicotine on carbon monoxide (CO)-induced delayed amnesia in mice. Psychopharmacology 116, 33–39 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02244868
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02244868