Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 Feb 26;14(3):306.
doi: 10.3390/life14030306.

Anxiolytic-like Activity, Antioxidant Properties, and Facilitatory Effects on the Short-Term Memory Retention of Molsidomine in Rats

Liliana Mititelu-Tartau  1 , Maria Bogdan  2 , Liliana Lăcrămioara Pavel  3 , Ciprian Rezus  4 , Cezar Ilie Foia  1 , Nicoleta Dima  4 , Irina Luciana Gurzu  5 , Ana-Maria Pelin  6 , Beatrice Rozalina Buca  1
Affiliations

Anxiolytic-like Activity, Antioxidant Properties, and Facilitatory Effects on the Short-Term Memory Retention of Molsidomine in Rats

Liliana Mititelu-Tartau et al. Life (Basel). .

Abstract

Compelling evidence indicates that nitric oxide (NO) exerts a significant influence on the central nervous system, participates in the modulation of neurotransmitter release, contributes to the regulation of cognitive functions, and plays a crucial role in modulating various aspects of neural activity. We aimed to explore the influence of two NO donors, molsidomine (MSD) and V-pyrro/NO, on the innate spontaneous psychomotor abilities and short-term memory in rats. Using an actimeter test, the locomotor activity, stress-sensitive behavior, and anxiety level were investigated. The influence on the animal`s cognitive functions was evaluated usingthe Y-maze test to assess the spontaneous alternation percentage, number of arms visited, number of alternations, and the preference index. Four distinct groups of five white male Wistar rats were exposed to the intraperitoneal treatments as follows: Control batch-0.3 mL/100 g of body weight saline solution, Mg batch-200 mg/kbwof magnesium chloride, MSD batch-1 mg/kbw of molsidomine, and V-pyrro/NO batch-5 mg/kbwof V-pyrro/NO. The intraperitoneal administration of MSD resulted in a significant reduction in spontaneous behavior and exploratory skills but was less pronounced than the positive control drug, magnesium chloride. Conversely, treatment with V-pyrro/NO led to only a slight decrease in horizontal movements during the actimeter test. MSD administration, but not V-pyrro/NO, notably increased the rate of spontaneous alternation in the Y-maze test. Additionally, the use of MSD resulted in an increase in the blood level of brain-derived neurotrophic factor and the intensification of the antioxidant enzymes, superoxide dismutase, and glutathione peroxidase activity. In our experimental setup, we demonstrated that MSD exposure led to a decrease in spontaneous behavior, showed anxiolytic effects and antioxidant activity, and improved spatial memory acquisition in rats.

Keywords: V-pyrro/NO; Y-maze; actimeter; molsidomine; rats.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The influence of MSD and V-pyrro/NO on the horizontal (a), vertical (b), and stereotype (c) movements in the actimeter test. * p < 0.05 vs. control; ** p < 0.01 vs. control.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The influence of MSD and V-pyrro/NO on the arms visited (a) and number of alternations (b) in the Y-maze test. * p < 0.05 vs. control; ** p < 0.01 vs. control.
Figure 3
Figure 3
The influence of MSD and V-pyrro/NO on the spontaneous alternation percentage (a) and the preference index (b) in the Y-maze test. * p < 0.05 vs. control; ** p < 0.01 vs. control.
Figure 4
Figure 4
The influence of MSD and V-pyrro/NO on the blood levels of cortisol (a) and BDNF (b). * p < 0.05 vs. control; ** p < 0.01 vs. control.
Figure 5
Figure 5
The influence of MSD and V-pyrro/NO on the activity of SOD (a), MDA (b), and GPx (c). * p < 0.05 vs. control; ** p < 0.01 vs. control.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Iova O.M., Marin G.E., Lazar I., Stanescu I., Dogaru G., Nicula C.A., Bulboacă A.E. Nitric oxide/nitric oxide synthase system in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative disorders-an overview. Antioxidants. 2023;12:753. doi: 10.3390/antiox12030753. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Levine A.B., Punihaole D., Levine T.B. Characterization of the role of nitric oxide and its clinical applications. Cardiology. 2012;122:55–68. doi: 10.1159/000338150. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Ahmad A., Dempsey S.K., Daneva Z., Azam M., Li N., Li P.-L., Ritter J.K. Role of nitric oxide in the cardiovascular and renal systems. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2018;19:2605. doi: 10.3390/ijms19092605. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Barreto A.S., Macedo F.N., Fontes M.T., Santana-Filho W.J. Chapter 3—Nitric oxide as a vascular modulator to resistance training. In: Chatterjee S., editor. Endothelial Signaling in Vascular Dysfunction and Disease. Academic Press; Cambridge, MA, USA: 2021. pp. 29–35. - DOI
    1. Bayarri M.A., Milara J., Estornut C., Cortijo J. Nitric oxide system and bronchial epithelium: More than a barrier. Front. Physiol. 2021;12:687381. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2021.687381. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources