Blockade of phencyclidine-induced effects by a nitric oxide donor.

In rats, the drug phencyclidine (PCP) produced a complex behavioral syndrome including hyperlocomotion, stereotyped behaviors, and ataxia, and increased expression of the neuronal activity marker c-fos in brain regions, especially the cortex. The nitric oxide donor sodium nitroprusside (SNP) alone had no effect but completely blocked both the behavioral and c-fos responses to PCP in a dose- and time-dependent manner. These findings implicate the nitric oxide system in PCP's mechanism and suggest that drugs targeting the glutamate-nitric oxide system could offer a novel treatment approach for PCP-induced psychosis and schizophrenia.

Study at a glance

Abstract

1. Phencyclidine (PCP) is widely used as an animal model of schizophrenia. The aim of this study was to better understand the role of nitric oxide (NO) in the mechanism of action of PCP and to determine whether positive NO modulators may provide a new approach to the treatment of schizophrenia. 2. The effects of the NO donor, sodium nitroprusside (SNP), were studied in PCP-treated rats. Following drug administration, behavioural changes and the expression of c-fos, a metabolic marker of functional pathways in the brain, were simultaneously monitored. 3. Acute PCP (5 mg kg(-1), i. p.) treatment induced a complex behavioural syndrome, consisting of hyperlocomotion, stereotyped behaviours and ataxia. Treatment with SNP (2 - 6 mg kg(-1), i.p.) by itself produced no effect on any behaviour studied but completely abolished PCP-induced behaviour in a dose- and time-dependent manner. 4. PCP had differential regional effects on c-fos expression in rat brain, suggesting regionally different patterns of neuronal activity. The most prominent immunostaining was observed in the cortical regions. Pre-treatment with SNP blocked PCP-induced c-fos expression at doses similar to those that suppress PCP-induced behavioural effects. 5. These results implicate the NO system in the mechanism of action of PCP. The fact that SNP abolished effects of PCP suggests that drugs targeting the glutamate-NO system may represent a novel approach to the treatment of PCP-induced psychosis and schizophrenia.