deformylflustrabromine and Cognitive-Dysfunction

The α4β2 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (α4β2-nAChRs) may represent useful targets for cognitive improvement. It has been recently proposed that a strategy based on positive allosteric modulation of α4β2-nAChRs reveals several advantages over the direct agonist approach. Nevertheless, the procognitive effects of α4β2-nAChR positive allosteric modulators (PAMs) have not been extensively characterized.. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the procognitive efficacy of desformylflustrabromine (dFBr), a selective α4β2-nAChR PAM.. Cognitive effects were investigated in the novel object recognition task (NORT) and the attentional set-shifting task (ASST) in rats.. The results demonstrate that dFBr attenuated the delay-induced impairment in NORT performance and facilitated cognitive flexibility in the ASST. The beneficial effects of dFBr were inhibited by dihydro-β-erythroidine, a relatively selective α4β2-nAChR antagonist, indicating the involvement of α4β2-nAChRs in cognitive processes. The tested α4β2-PAM was also effective against ketamine- and scopolamine-induced deficits of object recognition memory. Moreover, procognitive effects were also observed after combined treatment with inactive doses of dFBr and TC-2403, a selective α4β2-nAChR agonist.. These findings indicate that dFBr presents procognitive activity, supporting the strategy based on α4β2-nAChR potentiation as a plausible therapy for cognitive impairment.

Topics: Allosteric Regulation; Animals; Attention; Cognitive Dysfunction; Hydrocarbons, Brominated; Indole Alkaloids; Ketamine; Male; Nicotinic Agonists; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Receptors, Nicotinic; Recognition, Psychology; Scopolamine