Cannabis-induced impairment of learning and memory: effect of different nootropic drugs

Authors

  • Omar M.E. Abdel-Salam Department of Toxicology and Narcotics, National Research Centre, Cairo
  • Neveen A. Salem Department of Toxicology and Narcotics, National Research Centre, Cairo
  • Marwa El-Sayed El-Shamarka Department of Toxicology and Narcotics, National Research Centre, Cairo
  • Noha Al-Said Ahmed Department of Toxicology and Narcotics, National Research Centre, Cairo
  • Jihan Seid Hussein Department of Medical Biochemistry, National Research Centre, Cairo
  • Zakaria A. El-Khyat Department of Medical Biochemistry, National Research Centre, Cairo

Keywords:

Cannabis sativa extract, nootropics, water maze, mice, oxidative stress, brain monoamines

Abstract

Cannabis sativa preparations are the most commonly used illicit drugs worldwide. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of Cannabis sativa extract in the working memory version of the Morris water maze (MWM; Morris, 1984) test and determine the effect of standard memory enhancing drugs. Cannabis sativa was given at doses of 5, 10 or 20 mg/kg (expressed as Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol) alone or co-administered with donepezil (1 mg/kg), piracetam (150 mg/ kg), vinpocetine (1.5 mg/kg) or ginkgo biloba (25 mg/kg) once daily subcutaneously (s.c.) for one month. Mice were examined three times weekly for their ability to locate a submerged platform. Mice were euthanized 30 days after starting cannabis injection when biochemical assays were carried out. Malondialdehyde (MDA), reduced glutathione (GSH), nitric oxide, glucose and brain monoamines were determined. Cannabis resulted in a significant increase in the time taken to locate the platform and enhanced the memory impairment produced by scopolamine. This effect of cannabis decreased by memory enhancing drugs with piracetam resulting in the most-shorter latency compared with the cannabis. Biochemically, cannabis altered the oxidative status of the brain with decreased MDA, increased GSH, but decreased nitric oxide and glucose. In cannabis-treated rats, the level of GSH in brain was increased after vinpocetine and donepezil and was markedly elevated after Ginkgo biloba. Piracetam restored the decrease in glucose and nitric oxide by cannabis. Cannabis caused dose-dependent increases of brain serotonin, noradrenaline and dopamine. After cannabis treatment, noradrenaline is restored to its normal value by donepezil, vinpocetine or Ginkgo biloba, but increased by piracetam. The level of dopamine was significantly reduced by piracetam, vinpocetine or Ginkgo biloba. These data indicate that cannabis administration is associated with impaired memory performance which is likely to involve decreased brain glucose availability as well as alterations in brain monoamine neurotransmitter levels. Piracetam is more effective in ameliorating the cognitive impairments than other nootropics by alleviating the alterations in glucose, nitric oxide and dopamine in brain.

Downloads

Published

2013-03-12

How to Cite

Abdel-Salam, O. M., Salem, N. A., El-Sayed El-Shamarka, M., Al-Said Ahmed, N., Seid Hussein, J., & El-Khyat, Z. A. (2013). Cannabis-induced impairment of learning and memory: effect of different nootropic drugs. EXCLI Journal, 12, 193–214. Retrieved from https://www.excli.de/index.php/excli/article/view/1142

Issue

Vol. 12 (2013)

Section

Original articles

License

Authors who publish in this journal agree to the following terms:

  • The authors keep the copyright and grant the journal the right of first publication under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution license, CC BY 4.0. This licencse permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided that the original work is properly cited.
  • The use of general descriptive names, trade names, trademarks, and so forth in this publication, even if not specifically identified, does not imply that these names are not protected by the relevant laws and regulations.
  • Because the advice and information in this journal are believed to be true and accurate at the time of publication, neither the authors, the editors, nor the publisher accept any legal responsibility for any errors or omissions presented in the publication. The publisher makes no guarantee, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein.
  • The authors can enter into additional contracts for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version by citing the initial publication in this journal (e.g. publishing in an institutional repository or in a book).

Most read articles by the same author(s)