Clin Psychopharmacol Neurosci.  2019 Mar;17(2):233-243. 10.9758/cpn.2019.17.2.233.

Effects of Chronic and Acute Lithium Treatment on the Long-term Potentiation and Spatial Memory in Adult Rats

Affiliations
  • 1Department of Physiology, Medical Faculty of Erciyes University, Kayseri, Turkey. cemsuer1963@gmail.com

Abstract


OBJECTIVE
Although, accumulating evidence is delineating a neuroprotective and neurotrophic role for lithium (Li), inconsistent findings have also been reported in human studies especially. Moreover, the effects of Li infusion into the hippocampus are still unknown. The aims of this work were (a) to assess whether basal synaptic activity and long-term potentiation (LTP) in the hippocampus are different in regard to intrahippocampal Li infusion; (b) to assess spatial learning and memory in rats chronically treated with LiCO₃ in the Morris water maze.
METHODS
Field potentials were recorded form the dentate gyrus, stimulating perforant pathways, in rats chronically (20 mg/kg for 40 days) or acutely treated with LiCO₃ and their corresponding control rats. In addition, performance of rats in a Morris water maze was measured to link behaviour of rats to electrophysiological findings.
RESULTS
LiCO₃ infusion into the hippocampus resulted in enhanced LTP, especially in the late phases, but attenuated LTP was observed in rats chronically treated with Li as compared to controls. Li-treated rats equally performed a spatial learning task, but did spend less time in target quadrant than saline-treated rats in Morris water maze.
CONCLUSION
Despite most data suggest that Li always yields neuroprotective effects against neuropathological conditions; we concluded that a 40-day treatment of Li disrupts hippocampal synaptic plasticity underlying memory processes, and that these effects of prolonged treatment are not associated with its direct chemical effect, but are likely to be associated with the molecular actions of Li at genetic levels, because its short-term effect preserves synaptic plasticity.

Keyword

Lithium; Hippocampus; Learning; Memory; Long-term potentiation

MeSH Terms

Adult*
Animals
Dentate Gyrus
Hippocampus
Humans
Learning
Lithium*
Long-Term Potentiation*
Memory
Neuronal Plasticity
Neuroprotective Agents
Perforant Pathway
Rats*
Spatial Learning
Spatial Memory*
Water
Lithium
Neuroprotective Agents
Water
Full Text Links
  • CPN
Actions
Cited
CITED
export Copy
Close
Share
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
Similar articles
Copyright © 2024 by Korean Association of Medical Journal Editors. All rights reserved.     E-mail: koreamed@kamje.or.kr