Title
The intrahippocampal infusion of crotamine from Crotalus durissus terrificus venom enhances memory persistence in rats
Date Issued
01 July 2014
Access level
metadata only access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
Vargas L.S.
Lara M.V.S.
Gonçalves R.
Mandredini V.
Marangoni S.
Dal Belo C.A.
Mello-Carpes P.B.
State University of Campinas (UNICAMP)
Publisher(s)
Elsevier Ltd
Abstract
Previous research has shown that crotamine, a toxin isolated from the venom of Crotalus durissus terrificus, induces the release of acetylcholine and dopamine in the central nervous system of rats. Particularly, these neurotransmitters are important modulators of memory processes. Therefore, in this study we investigated the effects of crotamine infusion on persistence of memory in rats. We verified that the intrahippocampal infusion of crotamine (1 μg/μl; 1 μl/side) improved the persistence of object recognition and aversive memory. By other side, the intrahippocampal infusion of the toxin did not alter locomotor and exploratory activities, anxiety or pain threshold. These results demonstrate a future prospect of using crotamine as potential pharmacological tool to treat diseases involving memory impairment, although it is still necessary more researches to better elucidate the crotamine effects on hippocampus and memory. © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Start page
52
End page
58
Volume
85
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Biología celular, Microbiología
Toxicología
Subjects
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-84901276092
PubMed ID
Source
Toxicon
ISSN of the container
00410101
Sponsor(s)
This study was supported by Federal University of Pampa ( 01/2013 , Research's Groups Grant). L. Vargas was supported by CAPES student scholarship . M.V. Lara and R. Gonçalves were supported by Federal University of Pampa scholarship. We thank Ms. Aline Vieira for the artwork of Fig. 2 .
Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES
Sources of information:
Directorio de Producción Científica
Scopus