Chronic stimulation of the serotonergic 5-HT4 receptor modulates amyloid-beta-related impairments in synaptic plasticity and memory deficits in male rats

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by memory decline and impaired hip-pocampal synaptic plasticity. The serotonin 5-HT4 receptor is involved in learning and memory processes. This study explored the effects of chronic stimulation of 5-HT4R on cognition, memory, long-term potentiation (LTP), paired-pulse ratio (PPR), and neuronal apoptosis in a rat model of amyloid-beta (A beta)-induced AD. Thirty-five male Wistar rats were randomly divided into three groups as follows: the sham, A beta, and A beta + BIMU8 groups. A beta (6 mu g/mu l) was administrated by intracerebroventricular (icv) injection. The animals were treated with BIMU8 (1 mu g/mu L, ICV) as a 5-HT4R agonist for 30 days. Memory and behavioral changes were assessed by the passive avoidance learning, novel object recognition, open field, and elevated plus maze tests. Hippocampal synaptic plasticity was evaluated in the dentate gyrus (DG) in response to the stimulation applied to the perforant pathway. Furthermore, neuronal apoptosis was measured in the hippocampus. Data were analyzed by SPSS version 19 using one-way ANOVA, followed by Tukey's post hoc test. A beta induced memory deficits and neuronal loss and inhibited LTP induction. A beta also increased the normalized PPR. BIMU8 enhanced the slope of the field excitatory postsynaptic potential in LTP and improved cognition behavior. Paired-pulse inhibition or facilitation was not affected by LTP induction in A beta animals receiving the BIMU8. It can be concluded that the stimulation of the 5-HT4 receptor modulated the A beta-induced cognition and memory deficits, probably via a decrease in the hippocampal apoptotic neurons and an improvement in the hippocampal synaptic functions without involving its inhibitory interneurons.