Effect of Riluzole, a Glutamate Release Inhibitor, on Synaptic Plasticity in the Intrahippocampal Aβ Rat Model of Alzheimer’s Disease

• Published in: Neurophysiology (New York) Vol. 51; no. 4; pp. 266 - 271
• Main Authors: Mokhtari, Z., Baluchnejadmojarad, T., Nikbakht, F., Fahanik-Babaei, J., Roghani, M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01-07-2019; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Alzheimer's disease; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Cognitive ability; Dentate gyrus; Glutamic acid receptors; Long-term potentiation; Neurofibrillary tangles; Neurosciences; Neurotoxicity; Senile plaques; Synaptic plasticity; Synaptic transmission; β-Amyloid; dentate gyrus; hippocampus; Alzheimer disease; amyloid β; riluzole; synaptic plasticity; long-term potentiation
• ISSN: 0090-2977; 1573-9007
• DOI: 10.1007/s11062-019-09820-w

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is associated with cognitive deficits of varying degrees and with impairment of the synaptic transmission-related tasks. Pathologically, AD is highlighted with accumulation of extracellular β-amyloid plaques and of neurofibrillary tangles. Glutamate-mediated neurotoxicity plays a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of AD. Deficits of long-term potentiation (LTP) and neuronal synaptic plasticity as an essential mechanism of the learning and memory disorders in AD has been ascribed to over-activation of glutamate receptors. We examined the effect of riluzole, a glutamate release inhibitor, on LTP impairment in the dentate gyrus (DG) in a rat model of AD provided by bilateral intrahippocampal amyloid β (Aβ 25-35) injections; riluzole was administered at a dose of 10 mg/kg. The LTP in perforant path-DG synapses was evaluated using measurements of the field excitatory postsynaptic potential (fEPSP) slope and population spike (PS) amplitude. We found that Aβ (
25
–
34
) significantly decreased the fEPSP slope and PS amplitude, as compared to those in the sham group; riluzole pretreatment in the Aβ-microinjected group significantly increased these parameters. Taken together, it is concluded that riluzole could noticeably improve synaptic plasticity and enhan ce LTP in the rat model of AD.