Nefiracetam improves Morris water maze performance following traumatic brain injury in rats

Nefiracetam, a pyrrolidone derivative, is a nootropic agent that has facili tated cognitive function in a wide variety of animal models of cognitive dy sfunction. The purpose of this study was to investigate the efficacy of the chronic postinjury administration of nefiracetam (DM-9384) in improving co gnitive performance following central fluid percussion brain injury in rats . Twenty-four hours following surgical preparation, a sham injury or a mode rate fluid percussive injury (2.1 arm) was delivered. Nefiracetam was admin istered chronically (0 or 9 mg/kg, po, for sham animals and 0, 3, or 9 mg/k g for injured animals) on postinjury days 1-15. Cognitive performance was a ssessed using the Morris water maze (MWM) on postinjury days 11-15. Chronic administration of 3 and 9 mg/kg nefiracetam attenuated MWM deficits produc ed by central fluid percussive brain injury. Importantly, the MWM performan ce of the injured animals treated with 9 mg/kg did not significantly differ from uninjured, sham animals. The 9-mg/kg dose of nefiracetam did not have a positive or negative effect on MWM performance of uninjured animals. The results of the present experiment suggest that a nootropic such as nefirac etam may be an appropriate treatment for trauma-induced cognitive dysfuncti on. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.