Nitroprusside and ECS-Induced Retrograde Amnesia

Abstract

Previous research found that the administration of verapamil and felodipine immediately before electroconvulsive shocks (ECS) attenuated ECS-induced retrograde amnesia. This study examined whether sodium nitroprusside, an antihypertensive drug that does not affect calcium channels, has a similar action. Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats received nitroprusside (0.5 mg/kg ip) or saline 3 minutes before each of three once-daily true or sham ECS. Retention of pre-ECS learning was studied 1 day after ECS using a passive avoidance task. Nitroprusside was associated with increased seizure duration in ECS-treated rats, and with enhanced recall in both true and sham ECS groups. The latter finding suggests that nitroprusside nonspecifically improves cognitive functions, and does not support the hypothesis that ECS-induced cognitive impairment is a result of blood-brain barrier breach. Nitric oxide mechanisms may underlie the benefits purveyed by nitroprusside.

Anesthetic Considerations for Electroconvulsive Therapy-Especially Hemodynamic and Respiratory Management

“…The hyperdynamic state induced by sympathetic activation can be prevented by ganglion-blockers [46], betablockers [47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58][59]67,77], alpha-1 and alpha2-agonists [60][61][62][63][64][65][66], Ca2+-channel antagonists [68][69][70], nitrates [71][72][73][74][75][76] or local anesthetics [78]. Rapid, short-acting opioid [79][80][81] analgesics also possess sympatholytic effects and have recently been investigated as adjuvants during ECT.…”

“…In addition, Sudha et al [76] demonstrated the efficacy of 0.5 mg/kg of sodium nitroprusside administered intraperitoneally in increasing seizure duration in rats.…”

Effects of the nitric oxide donor molsidomine on different memory components as assessed in the object-recognition task in the rat

“…Reportedly, NO was not involved in retrieval formation in olfactory memory task in the adult sheep (Kendrick et al 1997), in the newborn rat (Samana and Boehm 1999), and in a passive avoidance test in the mouse (Telegdy and Kokavszky 1997). In contrast, involvement of NO in the retrieval of information was reported in inhibitory memory tasks performed in the newborn rat (Myslivecek et al 1996) and in the adult rat (Sudha et al 2001).…”

Molecular mechanisms underlying electroconvulsive therapy-induced amnestic deficits: A decade of research

“…[181–184] Curiously, two of the blood pressure surge studies themselves suggested neurotransmitter mechanisms. [177–178]…”

“…In order to further investigate our hypothesis, we studied the effects of a different antihypertensive agent: sodium nitroprusside[177] and we separately asked whether increasing blood pressure, using phenylephrine, worsens amnestic deficits with ECT. [178]…”