Glutathione depletion in the brain disrupts short-term spatial memory in the Y-maze in rats and mice

doi:10.1016/j.bbr.2008.11.017

Behavioural Brain Research

Volume 198, Issue 1, 2 March 2009, Pages 258-262

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbr.2008.11.017 Get rights and content

Abstract

Oxidative stress and reduced brain glutathione (GSH) levels have been reported in psychiatric illnesses including schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. However the role of GSH in cognitive impairment in the illness remains unclear. Treatment of Sprague-Dawley rats and C57Bl/6 mice with 2-cyclohexene-1-one (CHX) dose-dependently reduced striatal and frontal cortical GSH levels similar to those in schizophrenia. In both species, GSH depletion resulted in disruption of short-term spatial recognition memory in a Y-maze test. In conclusion, GSH depletion induces cognitive impairment, which may be relevant to the role of GSH in psychiatric illnesses.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by funds from the Woods Family Foundation (A.B. and M v.d. B.) and a research scholarship provided by the National Health and Medical Research Council (to O.D.).

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Citation Excerpt :
A single cross-sectional study examining GSH levels in healthy young vs. elderly humans revealed decreased GSH concentrations in the occipital cortex (OCC) [25]. Depletion of brain GSH has been demonstrated to disrupt short-term spatial recognition, learning and memory and cognitive flexibility in rodents [26,27] and to exacerbate stroke infarct size in mice [16] and in humans [28]. Furthermore, deficits in brain GSH concentrations are associated with increases in oxidative damage [20,23], impaired ability to quench and export toxins [16,28], neuroinflammation [29] and increased NO˙ toxicity and neuronal cell death [30,31].
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Short communicationGlutathione depletion in the brain disrupts short-term spatial memory in the Y-maze in rats and mice

Abstract

Section snippets

Acknowledgements

J Affect Disord

Am J Hum Genet

Biol Psychiatry

Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry

Life Sci

Brain Res Bul

Neurobiol Dis

Neuroscience

Psychiatry Res

Neuroscience

Neurobiol Learn Mem

Anal Biochem

Brain Res

Neuropharmacology

Exp Neurol

Life Sci

Neurobiol Learn Mem

Neuroscience

Drug Alcohol Depend

Schizophr Res

Neurochem Int

Short communication
Glutathione depletion in the brain disrupts short-term spatial memory in the Y-maze in rats and mice