Chronic dietary inositol enhances locomotor activity and brain inositol levels in rats

Abstract

myo-Inositol has been found to be clinically effective in depression, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and panic disorder when given chronically per os. The present study examined the effects of chronic dietary inositol in rats on locomotor behaviour. Regional brain levels of inositol were analyzed by gas chromatography. Chronic dietary inositol significantly enhanced locomotion and rearing in rats and elevated inositol levels by 36% in the cortex and 27% in hippocampus. No differences in inositol levels were found in the striatum or cerebellum. The stimulatory effects of inositol may be related to its effects as an atypical antidepressant in depressed patients.

Administration of Myo-inositol Plus Ethanolamine Elevates Phosphatidylethanolamine Plasmalogen in the Rat Cerebellum

“…In contrast to the literature reports mentioned above (13,14), our study showed that the greatest increase in myo-Ins (23%) occurred in the cerebellum (Fig. 2), followed by the brainstem and hippocampus (18% and 17%, respectively).…”

A review of the possible relevance of inositol and the phosphatidylinositol second messenger system (PI‐cycle) to psychiatric disorders—focus on magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) studies

“…As a result, several studies have investigated the effects of inositol administration on brain inositol levels and on changes in psychiatric symptoms in several disorders. Inositol administration has been reported to increase brain inositol concentrations in both rats (Patishi et al, 1996;Kofman et al, 1998;Pettegrew et al, 2001), and humans (Moore et al, 1999); however, acute changes may reverse with chronic administration (Moore et al, 1999;Pettegrew et al, 2001).…”

Stereotypies in Captive Primates and the Use of Inositol: Lessons from Obsessive–Compulsive Disorder in Humans

“…Acute and chronic administration of mIns boosts intracellular mIns levels in the brain Kofman et al 1998;Pettegrew et al 2001). In addition, performance of rats on the elevated plus-maze is also improved as mIns reduces anxiety behavior (Einat and Belmaker 2001).…”

“…Chronic dietary mIns administration of 1.5 g/kg mIns for 22 d increased locomotor activity and inositol concentration in the cerebral cortex and hippocampus of the brains of rats. However, acute intracerebroventricular (ICV) mIns administration of 5 mg did not increase locomotor activity (Kofman et al 1998), although this may be because performance was assessed only 30 min after the acute administration, which may be too early as inositol takes time to be distributed in the brain . Acute IP administration of 5 g/kg of mIns (1 mol/L) increased the mIns level in the rat brain membrane by 17 % whereas chronic IP administration of 1.2 g/kg dosage of mIns (1 mol/L) for 10 d increased the mIns level by 5 % (Pettegrew et al 2001).…”