Study of the effect of Agomelatine on short-term spatial memory in experimental mice.

Abstract

Background: Agomelatine is an antidepressant, it plays as an agonist to melatonin receptors (MT1 and MT2) and as an antagonist to serotonin receptor (5-HT_2C). And It has a distinct role on sleep rather than other antidepressants. Scopolamine acts as a nonselective muscarinic receptor antagonist, it can induce memory deficit by reducing Acetylcholine activity in the central nervous system. This research investigated the possibility of Agomelatine administration in short-term spatial memory enhancement, and in prophylaxis of short-term spatial memory deficit induced by Scopolamine.

Materials and methods: The study included 45 adult male mice, divided into 5 groups; Agomelatine group, Scopolamine & Agomelatine group, Scopolamine & Donepezil group, Scopolamine group and control group which given physiological serum. Evaluation of memory depends on calculation of Discrimination Index (DI), which is the difference between the time to discover novel object location and the time to discover familial object location, divided by the total exploration time to discover all objects in test phase.

Results: group given scopolamine and treated with agomelatine showed a significantly very important elevation in discrimination index 0.33 (P<0.0001), as compared to scopolamine group -0.23. and agomelatine group showed an elevation in discrimination index 0.34, as compared to normal control group 0.29, but this difference is not important significantly P=0.97.

Conclusion: Agomelatine had a prophylactic effect on spatial short-term memory, and a spatial short-term memory enhancement not important significantly.