We report here a study examining the effects of acute normobaric hypoxia in the early postnatal period of development (postnatal day 2) on learning ability and the expression of GABAB receptors in the neocortex (medial prefrontal cortex) of adolescent rats (postnatal days 55–60) and also addressing the possibility of correcting identified disorders with the Russian-made drug salifen, a GABA derivative. Perinatal hypoxia has been shown to impair the formation and retention of memory traces in the novel object recognition and conditioned passive avoidance reflex tests and to reduce spatial learning ability in the Morris water maze test. Analysis of Western blot results revealed an increase in the quantity of GABAB receptor protein in the medial prefrontal area of the neocortex of rats exposed to perinatal hypoxia. Administration of salifen 15 mg/kg for 14 days after exposure to hypoxia improved the cognitive abilities of rats and normalized the level of GABAB receptor protein expression in the medial prefrontal cortex of rats. The results obtained here are of interest for solving an applied challenge in neonatology – the search for effective pharmacological correction of the sequelae of perinatal hypoxia.
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Translated from Zhurnal Vysshei Nervnoi Deyatel’nosti imeni I. P. Pavlova, Vol. 73, No. 4, pp. 537–549, July–August, 2023.
V. A. Otellin is deceased.
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Mironova, V.I., Pritvorova, A.V., Akulova, V.K. et al. Salifen Prevents Perinatal Hypoxia-Induced Cognitive Impairments and Changes in the Expression of GABAB Receptors in the Rat Neocortex. Neurosci Behav Physi 53, 1593–1601 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11055-023-01554-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11055-023-01554-x