Nicotinic receptor antagonists in rats

Nicotinic acetylcholine-receptor systems are critical neural components of cognitive functions. Nicotine and nicotinic agonists have been shown to improve cognition in rats in numerous studies [13-15, 27, 31, 59]. Similarly, nicotinic-receptor antagonists - the subject of this chapter - can cause cognitive impairments in rats. The use of nicotinic-receptor antagonists in an animal model of cognitive impairment has clinical relevance because it models the functional effect of nicotinic-receptor loss. Studies have shown that patients with Alzheimer’s disease suffer a dramatic reduction in hippocampal and cortical nicotine-receptor density that parallels the cognitive decline associated with this disease [56-58]. Significant nicotinic-receptor loss also occurs in Parkinson’s disease [9], and postmortem studies in schizophrenics show a decrease in the number of α7 nicotinic receptors in the brain [8, 19]. Both of these diseases can also include cognitive decline. Thus animal studies wherein nicotinic receptors are blocked with antagonists can be useful in developing animal models of how these diseases - Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and schizophrenia - affect cognition.

Duke Scholars

Author Edward Daniel Levin Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Behavioral Medicine & Neur ...