Aniracetam ameliorates impaired pre- and post-synaptic cholinergic indices in gerbil hippocampus induced by transient forebrain ischemia

We investigated the effects of aniracetam, a member of nootropic drugs, on ischemic-induced neuronal cell death and reduced acetylcholine content and muscarinic acetylcholine receptor binding in gerbil hippocampus. Histological examination showed that aniracetam (100 mg/kg, intraperitoneally) did not alter the degree of neuronal death and astroglial and microglial reaction in CA1 area of the hippocampus 14 days after 5 min transient forebrain ischemia. On the other hand, aniracetam significantly restored the low acetylcholine content in the ischemic hippocampus. Ischemia significantly reduced the muscarinic acetylcholine receptor binding in the hippocampal tissue, which was also significantly restored by aniracetam administration. Our results indicate that aniracetam could rectify the hippocampal acetylcholine neurotransmission system damaged by ischemia-induced pyramidal cell death.