Sixty-four Sprague-Dawley rats received ibotenic-acid-induced unilateral nucleus basalis of Meynert (nbM) lesions; 10 additional animals served as sham controls. Eight to ten days later, subjects with lesions received either fetal cholinergic transplants implanted within the ipsilateral (relative to the lesion) frontal cortex or control transplant surgeries. Lesioned animals with and without transplants were then treated with GM1 (20 mg/kg, i.p.) for either 0,1 or 10 days and were then trained and tested for 72-hour retention of passive avoidance. Results indicated that the lesion produced a significant impairment on this task. Transplant therapy combined with GM1 for 10 days yielded a significant reversal of this deficit. GM1 injections continued once per week for 4 weeks for half the lesioned animals in the transplant and no-transplant 10-day conditions. During a 6-month period, all subjects were assessed on two additional memory tasks (complex spatial discrimination and delayed spatial alternation). In general, there was no indication of a lesion, transplant, GM1, or transplant × GM1 effect on these tasks. Approximately 7.5 months after transplants, subjects were sacrificed and their frontal cortices examined for choline acetyltransferase (CAT) and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity. Only lesioned subjects with transplants which were given sustained GMl treatment (i.e., 10 days plus weekly injections for 4 weeks) showed significant attenuations of lesion-induced CAT and AChE depletions. These data suggest that a combined treatment strategy of fetal transplant plus GM1 is capable of reversing nbM lesion-induced memory and neurochemical deficits in an animal model of the cholinergic deficits in Alzheimer's disease.

Keywords:
Nucleus basalis of Meynert, Memory, Fetal transplant, GM1 ganglioside, Choline acetyltransferase, Acetylcholinesterase
This content is only available via PDF.
© 1993 S. Karger AG, Basel
1993
Copyright / Drug Dosage / Disclaimer
Copyright: All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be translated into other languages, reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, microcopying, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Drug Dosage: The authors and the publisher have exerted every effort to ensure that drug selection and dosage set forth in this text are in accord with current recommendations and practice at the time of publication. However, in view of ongoing research, changes in government regulations, and the constant flow of information relating to drug therapy and drug reactions, the reader is urged to check the package insert for each drug for any changes in indications and dosage and for added warnings and precautions. This is particularly important when the recommended agent is a new and/or infrequently employed drug.
Disclaimer: The statements, opinions and data contained in this publication are solely those of the individual authors and contributors and not of the publishers and the editor(s). The appearance of advertisements or/and product references in the publication is not a warranty, endorsement, or approval of the products or services advertised or of their effectiveness, quality or safety. The publisher and the editor(s) disclaim responsibility for any injury to persons or property resulting from any ideas, methods, instructions or products referred to in the content or advertisements.
You do not currently have access to this content.