Effects of Ethanol Preconditioning on Pentylenetetrazole-induced Memory Impairment and Expression of NMDA Receptor NR1 Subunit mRNA in Rat

Abstract

Abstract Background: Neuronal damage following seizures and epilepsy is one of the main causes of disabilities and mortality worldwide. In recent years, preconditioning has been introduced as a novel strategy for the prevention of brain damage. Preconditioning is a phenomenon in which a minor noxious stimulus protects from a subsequent more severe insult. The aim of present study was to examine the effect of ethanol (Eth) preconditioning on pentylenetetrazole (PTZ)-induced impairment memory in the inhibitory avoidance model. Material and Methods: This study was carried out on 45 adult male Wistar rats (180-200 g). Animals were assigned into five groups: Control, Eth 0.25, Eth 0.5, PTZ and Eth (0.5) +PTZ (n=9, for all groups). Eth-preconditioning was induced 6 days before the injection of PTZ. The animals were tested in a single trial step-through inhibitory test in two sessions (train and test). Then locomotor activity of rats was recorded in the open-field apparatus and NR1 mRNA expression in the hippocampus was measured by real-time PCR technique. Results: One-way ANOVA revealed that the Ethanol preconditioning did not impair inhibitory memory. Further, post-test analyses showed that Ethanol preconditioning significantly prevented from PTZ-induced memory impairment, and increased NR1 subunit mRNA expression in PTZ-induced memory impairment group. In addition, one-way ANOVA for the locomotor activity showed no significant difference between the groups. Conclusion: Our results showed that a pre-conditioning treatment with Ethanol (0.5g/kg/day), 6 days before PTZ-induced memory impairment may provide a kind of neuroprotection in rats.

Keywords

• Epilepsy
• Ethanol
• Inhibitory avoidance Memory
• Preconditioning
• Pentylenetetrazole
• Seizure