Sildenafil citrate attenuates a complex maze impairment induced by intracerebroventricular infusion of the NOS inhibitor Nomega-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester.
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Devan BD, Pistell PJ, Daffin LW Jr, Nelson CM, Duffy KB, Bowker JL, Bharati IS, Sierra-Mercado D, Spangler EL, Ingram DK
Sildenafil citrate attenuates a complex maze impairment induced by intracerebroventricular infusion of the NOS inhibitor Nomega-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester.
Eur J Pharmacol. 2007 Jun 1;563(1-3):134-40. Epub 2007 Feb 17.
- PubMed ID
- 17362916 [ View in PubMed]
- Abstract
In a previous study, our laboratory reported that sildenafil citrate, a cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitor, reversed a learning impairment in rats induced by systemic inhibition of nitric oxide synthase (60 mg/kg, i.p., Nomega-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester; L-NAME). To limit the peripheral effects of L-NAME and further localize the site of action of sildenafil, L-NAME (48 microg, i.c.v.) was infused bilaterally into the lateral cerebral ventricles 30 min prior to maze training. Saline or sildenafil citrate (1.5 or 3.0 mg/kg, i.p.) was administered systemically 15 min before training. Drug injections occurred 24 h after pretraining rats to avoid foot shock on a one-way active avoidance straight runway. Following drug treatment, the rats received 15 training trials on a 14-unit T-maze task that requires learning a complex sequence of turns to avoid mild foot shock. This complex maze paradigm is sensitive to aging and blockade of cholinergic, N-methyl-D-aspartate and nitric oxide signaling systems. Behavioral measures of performance included deviations from the correct pathway (errors), runtime from start to goal (latency), shock frequency and shock duration. Statistical analysis revealed that central infusion of L-NAME impaired maze performance and that sildenafil (3.0 mg/kg) significantly attenuated the impairment. These results suggest that sildenafil citrate may serve as a cognitive enhancer by modulating central nitric oxide/cGMP signal transduction following N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor activation. This pathway has been implicated in age-related cognitive decline and may be a useful target for pharmacological intervention of neurodegenerative disease.
DrugBank Data that Cites this Article
- Drug Targets
Drug Target Kind Organism Pharmacological Action Actions Arginine Nitric oxide synthase, inducible Protein Humans UnknownNot Available Details