Effect of bicuculline and angiotensin II fragment 3-7 on learning and memory processes in rats chronically treated with ethanol.

The aim of this study was to determine the possible influence of bicuculline, the antagonist of GABA-A receptor on behavioral activity (recall, acquisition of conditioned reflexes) of angiotension II fragment 3-7 (A II 3-7) in rats chronically treated with ethanol. Long term (9 weeks) ethanol intoxication profoundly impaired learning and memory processes in all testes used. The GABA-A receptor antagonist bicuculline (0.5 mg/kg ip) did not influence exploratory and motor activity in the control rats, but we observed tendency (without significance) to decrease the locomotor activity, in the alcohol-intoxicated groups of animals, when the drug was injected together with A II 3-7 (2 microgram icv). Bicuculline did not influence retrieval process in passive avoidance recall in both investigated groups, and when the drug was given together with AII 3-7 significantly enhanced its action in the control group and in rats chronically treated with ethanol. Bicuculline significantly improved acquisition in the active avoidance test in the control and alcohol-intoxicated groups. Bicuculline injected together with A II 3-7 significantly decreased its action in the control group. Coadministration of bicuculline with A II 3-7 did not significantly change the activity of A II 3-7 in the acquisition of active avoidance test in the alcohol-intoxicated groups of rats.