Inducible Nitric Oxide Inhibitors Block NMDA Antagonist-Stimulated Motoric Behaviors and Medial Prefrontal Cortical Glutamate Efflux.
Frontiers in pharmacology January 1, 2015 Hadley C Bergstrom, Altaf S Darvesh, S P Berger
Inhibiting inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) with aminoguanidine (AG) or (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) reduces the motor and glutamate-releasing effects of NMDA-antagonist stimulants like dizocilpine (MK-801) and phencyclidine (PCP) in adult male rats. AG and EGCG dose-dependently attenuated the locomotor and ataxic properties of MK-801 and PCP, but not those of cocaine, indicating specificity to NMDA antagonism. Both agents also normalized MK-801-stimulated glutamate efflux in the medial prefrontal cortex. These results suggest that EGCG-like polyphenols found in green tea and chocolate may protect against the adverse behavioral and cortical glutamate effects of NMDA antagonists, which have been proposed as treatments for schizophrenia.