The novel anticonvulsant loreclezole (R 72063) does not produce diazepam-like anterograde amnesia in a passive avoidance test in rats

• Published in: Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's archives of pharmacology 1990-11, Vol.342 (5), p.613-615
• Main Authors: RAFFA, R. B, VAUGHT, J. L, SETLER, P. E
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Amnesia - chemically induced; Animals; Anticonvulsants - toxicity; Avoidance Learning - drug effects; Biological and medical sciences; Diazepam - toxicity; Drug toxicity and drugs side effects treatment; Male; Medical sciences; Pharmacology. Drug treatments; Rats; Rats, Inbred Strains; Scopolamine - toxicity; Toxicity: nervous system and muscle; Triazoles - toxicity
• ISSN: 0028-1298; 1432-1912
• DOI: 10.1007/BF00169053

Rats were injected intraperitoneally with loreclezole (R 72063), diazepam, or scopolamine 60 min prior to acquisition of a passive avoidance task and tested 18 h later for retention of the learned (passive) behavior. The known impairment of performance produced by diazepam in this test is believed to be a model for the clinically observed diazepam-induced anterograde amnesia in humans. We report in this study that (1) consistent with the literature, pretreatment with diazepam (2.0-16.0 mg/kg i.p.) or scopolamine (3.0 mg/kg i.p.) produced impairment in passive avoidance performance of rats (anterograde amnesia), but (2) pretreatment with loreclezole (R 72063) (2.0-80.0 mg/kg i.p.) did not impair the acquisition, retention, or the retrieval (tested 18 h later) of passive avoidance behavior by rats at any dose. The results suggest that the anticonvulsant activity of loreclezole is mediated by a mechanism distinct from the one coupled to diazepam-like disruption of cognitive functions involved in the acquisition or posttraining information processing of passive avoidance behavior.