Abstract
The purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of the phenylalkylamine class of the L-type voltage-dependent calcium channel antagonist, verapamil (1.0, 2.5, 5.0, or 10 mg/kg i.p.), administered immediately after the acquisition task, on memory consolidation of the open field habituation task, in male Wistar rats. On the 48 h retested trial, all tested parameters (ambulation in the side wall and in the central areas, number of rearing, time spent grooming and defecation rate) significantly decreased in the saline treated animals. A significant decrease of rearing was observed in all verapamil treated groups. On the retention day, the ambulation in the side wall and central areas significantly decreased in the animals treated with 1 mg/kg and 10 mg/kg of verapamil, while the time spent grooming and the defecation rate significantly decreased only in the group treated with 1 mg/kg of verapamil. According to the change ratio scores that correct the individual behavioral baseline differences during initial and final sessions, habituation deficit was found in animals treated with verapamil as follows: ambulation along the side wall area (1, 2.5, and 5 mg/kg), number of rearing (all used dose) and time spent grooming (2.5, 5, and 10 mg/kg). In conclusion, the present data suggest that the post-training administration of verapamil, parameter- and dose-dependently, impairs the habituation to a novel environment.
Highlights
Three different subfamilies of calcium (Cav) channels have, far, been defined and named Cav1, Cav2, and Cav3 (Ertel et al, 2000; Catterall et al, 2005; Hofmann et al, 2014)
It has been found that nimodipine does not affect the memory consolidation of rats tested in the simple learning association (Isaacson et al, 1989), as well as of mice tested in contextual fear conditioning (Suzuki et al, 2004)
Noting the lack of data related to the effect of L-type voltage-gated calcium channels (LVGCCs) antagonists on memory consolidation in rats, the aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of verapamil post-training treatment on memory retention, in the open field habituation task
Summary
Three different subfamilies of calcium (Cav) channels have, far, been defined and named Cav, Cav, and Cav (Ertel et al, 2000; Catterall et al, 2005; Hofmann et al, 2014). Calcium channel blockers that bind principally to dihydropyridine receptors (nimodipine, nifedipine, and amlodipine) do facilitate memory consolidation of mice tested in passive avoidance, linear maze, and elevated plusmaze tasks (Quartermain et al, 1993, 2001; Biala et al, 2013). Studies in mice demonstrated that systemic post-training treatment with verapamil does not affect memory consolidation in the passive avoidance task (Quartermain et al, 1993; Masoudian et al, 2015), but improves retention in linear maze and elevated plus maze tasks (Biala et al, 2013). Noting the lack of data related to the effect of LVGCC antagonists on memory consolidation in rats, the aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of verapamil post-training treatment on memory retention, in the open field habituation task
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