Effects Of Noopept Research Articles

Noopept protects ciliates <i>Paramecium сaudatum</i> cells from the toxic effects of heavy metal compounds

Background. The dipeptide drug Noopept, created at the Zakusov Institute of Pharmacology, has a wide range of pharmacological actions, including cytoprotective one. In connection with the increasing pollution of the environment, it is urgent to identify the protective properties of drugs with a negative effect of heavy metal compounds on the live system. The aim of the present study was to investigate the cytoprotective effects of Noopept under toxicity induced by heavy metal compounds using ciliates Paramecium caudatum as a test object. Methods. The ciliates Paramecium caudatum were exposed to 4 salts of heavy metals: cadmium chloride, lead acetate, copper sulfate, zinc sulfate, as well as nanoparticles of copper oxide and zinc oxide. Noopept was added to the medium with the experimental cells 30 min before the introduction of damaging agents, at concentrations of 0.01–10 μM. Results. It was found that the presence of metal salts in the medium significantly reduced the number Paramecium сaudatum cells, depending on the time of exposure. Noopept at all studied concentrations reduced cell death, while the maximum intensity of the effect was observed at a concentration of 1 μM. Conclusions. The results obtained make it possible to supplement data on the wide spectrum of Noopept's action.

Effects of Noopept and Piracetam on Depression of the Acetylcholine-Induced Current in Common Snail Command Neurons

The actions of the nootropes noopept and piracetam on depression of the acetylcholine-induced current in a cellular analog of habituation were studied. Mathematical modeling of experimental curves and their analysis using previously obtained results on the effects of inhibitors of different protein kinases and protein phosphatases on acquisition of depression of the acetylcholine-induced current in a cellular analog of habituation clarified the intracellular processes and targets on which these agents act.

Drug with Neuroprotective Properties Noopept Does Not Stimulate Cell Proliferation.

Effects of Noopept (N-phenylacetyl-L-prolylglycine ethyl ester) on the relative level of proliferation marker Ki-67 and cell cycle parameters were studied in HEK293 and SH-SY5Y cell lines. The previously established multifactorial mechanism of action of the drug includes enhancement of neurotrophin NGF and BDNF expression and increase in HIF-1 activity. The possible mitogenic action of Noopept was estimated by its effect on cell proliferation. Noopept did not affect cell distribution over G1, S, G2 cell cycle phases and the relative level of proliferation marker Ki-67 in the cell lines under study. These data suggest that Noopept does not stimulate cell growth.

Genotype-dependent characteristics of behavior in mice in cognitive tests. The effects of Noopept

Male C57BL/6J, BALB/c, and DBA/2J mice showed differences in their abilities to perform two cognitive tests. C57BL/6J mice had good learning ability and memory trace retention (at 10 days) in a simplified Morris maze, while BALB/c mice had low levels of memory trace retention and DBA/2J mice had low learning ability in this test. I.p. administration of the nootropic agent Noopept (GVS-111, N-phenylacetyl-L-prolylglycine ethyl ester) at a dose of 0.5 mg/kg 15 min before the start of the test induced significant improvements in long-term memory in this test in BALB/c mice but no further improvement in C57BL/6J mice, and had no effect in DBA/2J mice. On testing the ability to extrapolate the direction of movement of a stimulus, administration of Noopept increased the proportion of correct responses in C57BL/6J and BALB/c mice, but had no effect in DBA/2J mice.

Noopept efficiency in experimental Alzheimer disease (cognitive deficiency caused by β-amyloid25–35 injection into Meynert basal nuclei of rats)

Experiments on adult Wistar rats showed that injection of beta-amyloid25-35 (2 microg) into Meynert basal nuclei caused long-term memory deficiency which was detected 24 days after this injection by the memory trace retrieval in conditioned passive avoidance reflex (CPAR). The effects of noopept, an original nootropic and neuroprotective dipeptide, on the severity of this cognitive deficiency were studied. Preventive (for 7 days before the injury) intraperitoneal injections of noopept in a dose of 0.5 mg/kg completely prevented mnestic disorders under conditions of this model. Noopept exhibited a significant normalizing effect, if the treatment was started 15 days after the injury, when neurodegenerative changes in the basal nuclei, cortex, and hippocampus were still acutely pronounced. The mechanisms of this effect of the drug are studied, including, in addition to the choline-positive effect, its multicomponent neuroprotective effect and stimulation of production of antibodies to beta-amyloid25-35. Noopept efficiency in many models of Alzheimer disease, its high bioavailability and low toxicity suggest this dipeptide for further studies as a potential agent for the treatment of this condition (initial and moderate phases).

Early Postnatal Effects of Noopept and Piracetam on Declarative and Procedural Memory of Adult Male and Female Rats

We studied the effect of a new nootropic dipeptide Noopept and reference nootropic preparation piracetam injected subcutaneously on days 8-20 of life on learning of alternative feeding response in a 6-arm-maze in male and female rats. Early postnatal administration of Noopept disturbed the dynamics of learning by parameters of declarative and procedural memory. Piracetam impaired learning by parameters of procedural, but not declarative memory (only in males). Both preparations decreased the ratio of successfully learned males (but not females). The observed effects were not associated with changes in locomotor activity.

Effect of noopept and afobazole on the development of neurosis of learned helplessness in rats.

We studied the effects of new psychotropic preparations noopept and afobazole on acquisition of the conditioned active avoidance response and development of neurosis of learned helplessness in rats. Noopept in doses of 0.05-0.10 mg/kg accelerated acquisition of conditioned active avoidance response and reduced the incidence of learned helplessness in rats. Afobazole in a dose of 5 mg/kg produced an opposite effect, which is probably related to high selective anxiolytic activity of this preparation.