7-NI and ODQ Disturbs Memory in the Elevated plus Maze, Morris Water Maze, and Radial Arm Maze Tests in Mice

Abstract

Nitric oxide (NO) is an atypical neurotransmitter that causes changes in cognition. Nitric oxide synthase (NOS) and guanylate cyclase (GC) inhibitors have been shown to exert some effects on cognition in previous studies; however, the findings have been controversial. This study was aimed at understanding the effects of an NOS inhibitor, 7-nitroindazole (7-NI), and a guanylate cyclase inhibitor, 1H-[1,2,4]oxadiazolo[4,3-a]quinoxalin-1-one (ODQ), on spatial memory in modified elevated plus maze (mEPM), Morris water maze (MWM), and radial arm maze (RAM) tests. Male Balb-c mice were treated via intraperitoneal injections with 7-NI (15 mg/kg), ODQ (3, 10 mg/kg), L-arginine (100 mg/kg) + 7-NI (15 mg/kg), or physiological saline. ODQ (3 mg/kg) and 7-NI (15 mg/kg) significantly increased the second-day latency in the mEPM test. 7-NI (15 mg/kg) and ODQ (10 mg/kg) significantly increased the escape latency in second, third, and fourth sessions, decreased the time spent in the escape platform’s quadrant, and increased the mean distance to the platform in the probe trial of the MWM test. ODQ (3, 10 mg/kg) and 7-NI (15 mg/kg) significantly increased the number of errors, whereas only 7-NI increased the latency in the RAM test. The administration of L-arginine (100 mg/kg) prior to 7-NI inverted the effects of 7-NI, which supports the role of NO on cognition. Our study shows that the NO/cGMP/GS pathway can regulate spatial memory in mice.

Evaluation of antiepileptic effect of S-adenosyl methionine and its role in memory impairment in pentylenetetrazole-induced kindling model in rats

“…A shortened transfer latency in the second trial is used as a parameter to measure the retention or consolidation of memory, and drug treatment prior to the first day may be utilized to determine the effects on memory acquisition. The evaluation of drug effects in the first trial may be confounded by nonspecific effects, such as effects on anxiety, locomotion, and motility [27]. Comparable transfer latency obtained in rats of different groups on the first day of the trial (day 25) on the EPM shows that these nonspecific effects have been randomized among the different groups.…”

Anandamide Effects in a Streptozotocin-Induced Alzheimer’s Disease-Like Sporadic Dementia in Rats

“…Arms were elevated to a height of 55 cm off the floor. The EPM is classically used for evaluation of locomotion and anxiety, but a modified version of the EPM have been also used for testing memory ( Sachdeva et al, 2014 ; Hill et al, 2015 ; Mutlu et al, 2015 ). The experimental procedure was carried out as described by Sachdeva et al (2014) , allowing also the study of a memory parameter, measuring the retention of latency to escape to a closed arm in the test, compared to the training session.…”

Intracerebroventricular streptozotocin induces behavioral impairments and increases short-term C3 gene expression in the hippocampus of Wistar rats

“…Anxiety, risk assessment and aversive episodic memory were evaluated through EPM tasks. Episodic memory was evaluated by the test-retest paradigm, which consists of repeated exposures to the EPM in a pre-established inter-trial-interval (Sharma and Kulkarni, 1992;Tanyeri, 2014;Mutlu et al, 2015).…”