Effects of St-587 and prazosin on water maze and passive avoidance performance of scopolamine-treated rats

The present experiments were designed to investigate whether the alpha-l adrenergic and muscarinic cholinergic systems interact in the regulation of spatial navigation behavior in the Morris water maze test and passive avoidance performance. Pretraining administration of scopolamine, a muscarinic antagonist, markedly impaired the acquisition of water maze task (a hidden platform version) as well as retention of this task. The drug also impaired slightly navigation to a visible platform. Pretraining subcutaneous administration of St-587 (alpha-1 agonist) at 2000 mu g/kg slightly improved the water maze navigation to a hidden platform in control rats, but its effect was not augmented in scopolamine-treated rats. Pretraining administration of prazosin (alpha-1 antagonist) 1000 mu g/kg or 2000 mu g/kg did not significantly potentiate the scopolamine (muscarinic cholinergic antagonist)-induced (doses 200 mu g/kg and 100 mu g/kg, pretraining intraperitoneal injection) deficit in water maze navigation. Pretraining administration of prazosin at doses 1000 mu g/kg and 2000 mu g/kg or St-587 at doses 1000 mu g/kg and 2000 mu g/kg did not have any significant influence on scopolamine-induced (200 mu g/kg or 400 mu g/kg) disruption in passive avoidance performance. These findings suggest that alpha-1 adrenergic mechanisms do not participate or are not the most important component of the noradrenergic system in the interaction between noradrenaline and muscarinic receptors in the modulation of learning and memory. The analysis of results indicates that activation of alpha-1 adrenoceptors might facilitate the acquisition of water maze task in its initial phase, for instance, switching from wall hugging strategy to an active exploration strategy. Furthermore, the present data suggest that muscarinic cholinergic blockade may affect both mnemonic and nonmnemonic processes in rats.