Kinoshita H, Kameyama T, Hasegawa T, Nabeshima T
Department of Chemical Pharmacology, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Meijo University, Nagoya, Japan.
Life Sci. 1992;51(4):267-73. doi: 10.1016/0024-3205(92)90085-4.
We investigated the effects of vinconate, a novel vinca alkaloid, on spatial learning deficits induced by medial septal (MS) lesion in rats. MS lesion was produced by passing an anodal DC current. In vehicle-treated MS-lesioned rats impairment of spatial learning was observed, shown by a decrease in correct choices and an increase in total errors during training in a radial arm maze task. Vinconate (10 mg/kg) treatment alleviated the decrease in correct choices and the increase in total errors induced by MS lesion. Vinconate (5 and 10 mg/kg) treatment showed a tendency to reverse the decrease in choline acetyltransferase activity in the hippocampus caused by MS lesion. The present study suggests that vinconate has an anti-amnesic effect on MS lesion-induced amnesia by ameliorating the dysfunction in cholinergic (ACh) neurons.
