1-Methyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinoline and established uncompetitive NMDA receptor antagonists induce tolerance to excitotoxicity.

Journal Title: Pharmacological Reports - Year 2010, Vol 62, Issue 6

Abstract

The aim of this study was to establish the antagonistic effects of 1-methyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinoline (1MeTIQ) on NMDA receptors and its neuroprotective abilities on primary cultures of rat cerebellar granule cells exposed for 30 min to 250 or 100 μM glutamate. Neuronal viability was tested after 24 h with propidium iodide or calcein/ethidium homodimer-1 staining. The neuroprotective potential of 100, 250 or 500 μM 1MeTIQ was compared with established uncompetitive NMDA receptor antagonists, 0.5 μM MK-801, or 5 μM memantine. These substances were applied for 30 min either together with glutamate, 24 or 48 h before glutamate, or 0.5 h, 1 h and 3 h after exposure to the excitotoxin. The results demonstrated that MK-801, memantine and 500 μM 1MeTIQ induced an almost complete neuroprotection when co-applied with glutamate, but lower concentrations of 1MeTIQ were slightly less effective. Similar effects for 1MeTIQ and the established NMDA receptor antagonists were observed in the pretreatment experiments, even with a 48-h lag between the application of the tested substances and the excitotoxic challenge. In the post-treatment experiments, MK-801 and memantine and 500 μM 1MeTIQ applied up to 3 h after the exposure to glutamate significantly reduced the excitotoxic lesion, but 1MeTIQ in lower concentrations was ineffective. These results indicate that 1MeTIQ shares neuroprotective abilities with established uncompetitive NMDA receptor antagonists, which suggests that its inhibitory effect on NMDA receptors plays a key role in its anti-excitotoxic activity. Moreover, our data disclose a new mechanism of 1MeTIQ-evoked neuroprotection based on the induction of neuronal tolerance to excitotoxicity.

Authors and Affiliations

Magdalena Kuszczyk, Marta Słomka, Lucyna Antkiewicz-Michaluk, Elżbieta Salińska, Jerzy Lazarewicz

Keywords

Related Articles

Effects of acute and chronic treatment with magnesium in the forced swim test in rats.

The antidepressant-like activity of magnesium, the non-specific N-methyl-D-aspartate glutamate receptor antagonist, in the mice forced swim test was demonstrated previously. In the present study, the effects of this biom...

Chemical structure of phenothiazines and their biological activity.

Phenothiazines belong to the oldest, synthetic antipsychotic drugs, which do not have their precursor in the world of natural compounds. Apart from their fundamental neuroleptic action connected with the dopaminergic rec...

Scavenging and antioxidant potential of physiological taurine concentrations against different reactive oxygen/nitrogen species.

While several studies have been conducted on the antioxidant properties of the beta-amino acid taurine, these studies all used concentrations lower than what is found physiologically. This study investigates the scavengi...

Increased IL-6 trans-signaling in depression: focus on the tryptophan catabolite pathway, melatonin and neuroprogression.

Depression has been conceptualized as a disorder driven by immuno-inflammatory pathways and oxidative and nitrosative stress. These factors couple to the induction of neuroregulatory tryptophan catabolites via the activa...

Protective effects of histamine H(3)-receptor ligands in schizophrenic behaviors in experimental models.

Schizophrenia (SCZ) afflicts around 1% of the world's population with characteristic symptoms such as hallucinations, delusions, and cognitive disorders. Several experimental studies in the past have indicted brain hista...

Download PDF file
  • EP ID EP85279
  • DOI -
  • Views 118
  • Downloads 0

How To Cite

Magdalena Kuszczyk, Marta Słomka, Lucyna Antkiewicz-Michaluk, Elżbieta Salińska, Jerzy Lazarewicz (2010). 1-Methyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinoline and established uncompetitive NMDA receptor antagonists induce tolerance to excitotoxicity.. Pharmacological Reports, 62(6), 1041-1050. https://europub.co.uk./articles/-A-85279