Biogenic monoamine uptake by rat brain synaptosomes during aging. Effects of nootropic drugs.

1. In experiments on young (3-5-month-old), adult (10-11-month-old) and old (21-22-month-old) rats, it was found that significant age-related changes occurred in the high-affinity uptake of dopamine (DA), noradrenaline (NA) and serotonin (5-HT) by cortical and striatal synaptosomes. 2. Changes in DA, NA and 5-HT uptake during aging are suggested to be neurochemical correlates of cognition and memory deficits that develops in senescence. 3. The in vitro effects of the nootropic drugs piracetam, aniracetam, meclofenoxate and adafenoxate on the DA, NA and 5-HT uptake by cortical and striatal synaptosomes from young rats were studied. Administered in increasing concentrations (1 x 10(-4) to 5 x 10(-3) M) these drugs inhibited monoamine uptake. 4. Adafenoxate proved to be a more potent monoamine uptake inhibitor than the other three drugs; it inhibited the uptake in the frontal cortex and striatum without selectivity for either monoaminergic system. It is suggested that adafenoxate affects cognition through the involvement of central neurotransmission and particularly through the inhibition of monoamine uptake systems.