Action on noradrenergic transmission of an anticholinesterase: 9-amino-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroacridine

• Published in: Neuropharmacology Vol. 34; no. 4; pp. 367 - 375
• Main Authors: Vivas, N.M., Màrmol, F., Sallés, J., Badia, A., Dierssen, M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 01.04.1995; Elsevier
• Subjects: 4-tetrahydroacridine; 9-Amino-1; [ 3H] cyclic AMP; [ 3H] inositol phosphates; Animals; anticholinesterase; Basal Metabolism; Biological and medical sciences; cerebral cortex; Cerebral Cortex - drug effects; Cerebral Cortex - metabolism; Colforsin - pharmacology; Cyclic AMP - metabolism; hippocampus; Hippocampus - drug effects; Hippocampus - metabolism; Hydrolysis; In Vitro Techniques; Male; Medical sciences; Neuropharmacology; noradrenergic transmission; Pharmacology. Drug treatments; Phosphatidylinositols - metabolism; Psychoanaleptics: cns stimulant, antidepressant agent, nootropic agent, mood stabilizer..., (alzheimer disease); Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopharmacology; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Receptors, Adrenergic, alpha-1 - drug effects; Receptors, Adrenergic, alpha-1 - metabolism; second messengers; Signal Transduction - drug effects; Stimulation, Chemical; Tacrine - pharmacology; cerebral cortex; 2; 3; second messengers; hippocampus; 4-tetrahydroacridine; [ 3H] inositol phosphates; anticholinesterase; [ 3H] cyclic AMP; 9-Amino-1; noradrenergic transmission; Rat; Psychotropic; Rodentia; Cyclic AMP; α1-Adrenergic receptor; In vitro; β-Adrenergic receptor; Signal transduction; Vertebrata; Mammalia; Animal; Nootropic agent; Anticholinesterase agent; Mechanism of action
• ISSN: 0028-3908; 1873-7064
• DOI: 10.1016/0028-3908(95)00003-O

The mechanism by which 9-amino-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroacridine (THA) inhibits β-adrenoceptor linked cyclic AMP formation and its possible relationship with the cholinergic system were studied. In addition, the effect of THA on α 1-adrenoceptor coupled transduction systems was also investigated. THA was not able to influence the concentration-response curve for forskolin indicating that it is not acting on the catalytic subunit of the adenylate cyclase complex. On the other hand a cholinergic component seems to participate in the action of THA on β-adrenoceptor stimulated adenylate cyclase activity since the blockade of muscarinic receptors with atropine (10 μM) partially prevented the reduction in cyclic AMP formation attained by THA in the hippocampus, in isoprenaline-stimulated conditions. This effect is not reproducible by another potent anticholinesterase physostigmine. Moreover, THA at concentrations up to micromolar did not affect α 1-adrenoceptor stimulated cyclic AMP formation or phosphoinositide hydrolysis. In conclusion, the neuropharmacological profile of THA is not to be restricted to the cholinergic system and its effectiveness in improving age-associated cognitive deterioration may involve an action on the β-adrenoceptor coupled signal transduction system. Moreover, the action of THA on the β-adrenergic and cholinergic systems in the brain could be relevant to the amelioration of cognitive deterioration and could lead to the development of new therapeutic strategies.