Mg. Packard et al., EFFECTS OF INTRASTRIATAL INJECTIONS OF PLATELET-ACTIVATING-FACTOR ANDTHE PAF ANTAGONIST BN-52021 ON MEMORY, Neurobiology of learning and memory, 66(2), 1996, pp. 176-182
The present experiments examined the effects of posttraining intra-dor
sal striatal (i.e., caudate-putamen) injections of the phospholipid me
thylcarbamyl platelet-activating factor (mc-PAF) and the platelet-acti
vating factor (PAF) antagonist BN 52021 on memory using a striatal-dep
endent cued water maze task. Male Long-Evans rats received an eight-tr
ial training session in which a visibly cued escape platform was locat
ed in a different quadrant of the maze on each trial, followed by an i
ntrastriatal injection of mc-PAF (0.5, 1.0, or 2.0 mu g/0.5 mu l), BN
52021 (0.25, 0.5, or 1.0 mu g/0.5 mu l), or vehicle (DMSO; 0.5 mu l).
On a retention test 24 h later, the escape latencies of rats given mc-
PAF (1.0, 2.0 mu g) were significantly lower than those of vehicle-inj
ected controls, indicating a memory enhancing effect of mc-PAF. The re
tention test escape latencies of rats given BN 52021 (0.5, 1.0 mu g) w
ere significantly higher than those of vehicle-injected controls, indi
cating a memory impairing effect of BN 52021. Injections of mc-PAF or
BN 52021 did not affect retention when administered 2 h posttraining,
indicating a time-dependent effect of the drugs on memory storage. The
findings indicate a role for endogenous PAF function in striatal-depe
ndent memory processes. (C) 1996 Academic Press, Inc.