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Differential neuroprotective effects of the NMDA receptor-associated glycine site partial agonists 1-aminocyclopropanecarboxylic acid (ACPC) and D-cycloserine in lithium-pilocarpine status epilepticus.

The status epilepticus (SE) induced in rats by lithium-pilocarpine (Li-pilo) shares many common features with soman-induced SE including a glutamatergic phase that is inhibited by NMDA antagonists. The present study determined whether 1-aminocyclopropanecarboxylic acid (ACPC) or D-cycloserine (DCS), both partial agonists of the strychnine-insensitive glycine site on the NMDA receptor ionophore complex, exerted anticonvulsant or neuroprotectant activity in Li-pilo SE. ACPC or DCS were administered either immediately following pilocarpine (exposure treatment) or 5 min after the onset of SE as determined by ECoG activity. SE was allowed to proceed for 3 h before termination with propofol. The rats were sacrificed 24 h following pilocarpine administration. Neither drug had an effect on the latency to seizure onset or the duration of seizure activity. ACPC administered 5 min after SE onset produced significant neuroprotection in cortical regions, amygdala and CA1 of the hippocampus. In contrast, when administered as exposure treatment ACPC enhanced the neural damage in the thalamus and CA3 of the hippocampus suggesting the neuropathology in those regions is mediated by a different subset of NMDA receptors. DCS had no neuroprotectant activity in Li-pilo SE but exacerbated neuronal damage in the thalamus. Neither drug affected the cholinergic convulsions but both had differential effects on neural damage. This suggests that the SE-induced seizure activity and subsequent neuronal damage involve independent mechanisms.

Amino Acids, Cyclic↗

Influence of ethanol withdrawal on fear memory: Effect of D-cycloserine.

Animals made dependent via an ethanol (ETOH) -containing liquid diet (6% v/v) for 14 days were subjected to a contextual fear conditioning paradigm 3 days after the last consumption day. After conditioning, rats were subjected to four extinction trials by exposing the animals to the conditioned context and their freezing was evaluated for each trial. Immediately after the first extinction trial, animals were injected with D-cycloserine (DCS) 5 mg/kg i.p., a dose that did not influence the extinction in control rats. Spontaneous recovery of learned fear was tested seven days after the last extinction trial. The following day, animals were subjected to a reacquisition or a reinstatement procedure and their freezing responses evaluated 24 h later. The present study shows that: 1. discontinuation from chronic ETOH administration facilitated the formation of a new fear memory concomitant with a marked resistance to being extinguished, 2. administration of DCS (5 mg/kg) facilitated the extinction process only in ETOH withdrawn rats, 3. both reinstatement and reacquisition procedures restored the increased freezing in ETOH withdrawn animals after extinction, 4. DCS administered immediately after the first extinction trial prevented the increase in freezing following both reacquisition and reinstatement. The enhanced sensitivity to the facilitatory effect of DCS in ETOH withdrawn animals may be mediated by adaptive changes in N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor provoked by ETOH dependence.

Alcohol-Induced Disorders, Nervous System↗

Effects of multiple exposures to D-cycloserine on extinction of conditioned fear in rats.

Previous research has shown that an acute, post-training injection of D-cycloserine (DCS) facilitates extinction of conditioned fear in rats; however, the effects of multiple exposures to DCS in this situation are not known. In Experiment 1, rats were conditioned (light-shock pairings) and 24 h later given six extinction (light-alone) trials followed by an injection of DCS (15 mg/kg) or saline. The next day, all rats were tested for light-elicited freezing. In Experiment 2, the effect of DCS on extinction was tested in the same manner, except that rats were pre-exposed to DCS (0, 1, or 5 injections) just prior to conditioning. In Experiment 3, rats received five pre-exposures of DCS but conditioning occurred either 2 or 28 days after the last pre-exposure. The results showed that DCS facilitated extinction of conditioned freezing to the light CS when no drug pre-exposure had occurred, but pre-exposure to DCS just prior to conditioning disrupted the facilitation of extinction effect. When 28 days were interposed between pre-exposure and conditioning, the facilitatory effects of DCS on extinction were restored. These findings suggest that DCS has significant clinical value but that behavioral desensitization may occur with multiple exposures; however, desensitization is not permanent and is reduced by the passage of time.

Animals↗

Effects of D-cycloserine on negative symptoms in schizophrenia.

INTRODUCTION: The negative and cognitive symptoms of schizophrenia are poorly responsive to neuroleptic treatment. Glutamatergic dysfunction may mediate some of these symptoms. Low dose D-cycloserine (DCS) is a partial agonist at the glycine site of the NMDA-associated receptor complex, noncompetitively enhancing NMDA neurotransmission. Prior studies suggest a beneficial effect of DCS on negative symptoms and cognition. This treatment trial was initiated to confirm and extend these findings. METHODS: Twenty-two male schizophrenic subjects displaying prominent negative symptoms who were stabilized on typical neuroleptics completed the study. A randomized double-blind parallel group design was used to compare the effects of 50 mg p.o. QD of DCS to placebo over 4 weeks. The two subject groups did not differ significantly in age, age of onset of illness or time on current neuroleptic treatment. Symptoms were rated by means of the SANS, BPRS and Abrams and Taylor rating scale. Cognition was assessed with the Sternberg Memory Test and the Continuous Performance Test. RESULTS: Both medication groups improved over the 4 weeks of treatment. However, there were no significant differences between the DCS and placebo group on any symptom rating. DCS effects on cognition did not differ from placebo. DISCUSSION: This study did not detect improvement in negative symptoms or cognitive performance with DCS treatment that has been found in some prior studies. This negative finding may be attributed to small sample size, relatively short duration of treatment and the overall modest effect of DCS. Future studies of DCS should be adequately powered to detect a small to medium effect size and should provide for a longer treatment phase than was used in this study in order to avoid a type II error.

Affect↗

Chronic, post-injury administration of D-cycloserine, an NMDA partial agonist, enhances cognitive performance following experimental brain injury.

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of augmenting NMDA receptor activation on cognitive deficits produced by traumatic brain injury (TBI). Specifically, D-cycloserine (DCS), a partial agonist of the NMDA-associated glycine site, was tested as a potential cognitive enhancer. Rats were injured using lateral fluid percussion TBI (2.8 +/- .10 atm). On days 1-15 post-injury, animals were injected (i.p.) with vehicle (n = 8), 10 mg/kg (n = 9), or 30 mg/kg (n = 8) of DCS. Sham-injured animals treated with either vehicle (n = 8) or 30 mg/kg of DCS (n = 8) were used for comparison. On days 11-15 post-injury, cognitive function was assessed using the Morris water maze (MWM). Results indicate that the 30 mg/kg dose of DCS significantly attenuated memory deficits as compared to injured vehicle-treated animals (P < 0.01). Analysis also revealed that performance of the injured-DCS (30 mg/kg) group was not significantly different from sham-injured animals treated with vehicle (P > 0.10). In contrast, the 10 mg/kg dose of DCS was ineffective in reducing injury-induced memory deficits. DCS (30 mg/kg) also significantly improved the spatial memory of sham-injured animals when compared with sham-injured animals treated with vehicle (P < 0.05). In conclusion, chronic, post-injury enhancement of the NMDA receptor is an effective strategy for ameliorating TBI-associated cognitive deficits.

Animals↗

Intrahippocampal D-cycloserine improves MK-801-induced memory deficits: radial-arm maze performance in rats.

In order to investigate whether strychnine-insensitive glycine sites coupled with hippocampal NMDA (N-methyl-d-aspartate) receptors are involved in spatial memory in rats, we examined the effects of intrahippocampal treatment of d-cycloserine (DCS), a glycine-site agonist, on spatial-memory deficits which were produced by an NMDA antagonist MK-801 (dizocilpine) on the radial-arm maze task. After the acquisition of this task, the radial-maze performance was tested under the combined treatments of intraperitoneal MK-801 or saline (SAL) and intrahippocampal DCS or SAL. The results showed that MK-801 impaired the performance, and that DCS improved the MK-801-induced performance impairment. These results suggest that glycine sites are involved in spatial memory through their modulatory action on hippocampal NMDA receptors.

Analysis of Variance↗

Subunit specificity and mechanism of action of NMDA partial agonist D-cycloserine.

Recently, we have shown that 1-aminocyclopropanecarboxylic acid (ACPC) acts simultaneously as a high affinity full glycine agonist and a low affinity glutamate site competitive antagonist for NMDA receptor channels. In this paper, we have attempted to determine the subunit specificity and mechanism of action of a different putative cyclic partial agonist, D-cycloserine (DCS). NMDA receptor currents were measured utilizing the two-electrode voltage clamp technique on Xenopus oocytes injected with NR1-1a cRNA and either NR2A, NR2B or NR2C cRNA. Efficacies of DCS were 35-68% of glycine controls for channels containing NR1-1a and NR2A or NR2B subunits, but channels containing NR2C subunits had efficacies greater than glycine controls (192%). Unlike ACPC, DCS efficacy does not increase with increasing NMDA concentration; however, the lowered efficacy elicited by DCS results solely through its interaction with the glycine binding site. The efficacy of DCS was pH sensitive for NR2A or NR2B-containing channels, but not for channels containing NR2C. From this, we suggest that the protonated and deprotonated forms of DCS when bound, probably open NMDA channels with different efficiency. Two models compatible with these results are presented.

Animals↗

Effects of scopolamine and D-cycloserine on non-spatial reference memory in rats.

The aim of the present work was to use a three-choice simultaneous brightness discrimination test to examine the retention of non-spatial reference memory in rats treated with scopolamine (0.5 mg/kg) alone and in combination with various concentrations of D-cycloserine (DCS) (5, 15 and 50 mg/kg). Scopolamine given 1 h before testing for retention was found to increase both the number of errors and the number of trials necessary to reach criterion. The three doses of DCS reduced this increase significantly and resulted in a U-shaped dose-response curve, where 15 mg/kg had a stronger compensatory effect than both 5 and 50 mg/kg. Control experiments were performed to confirm that the observed response was not due to non-mnemonic factors. Our results indicate that scopolamine and DCS affect non-spatial reference memory in a similar manner as shown for spatial reference memory.

Animals↗

Comparison of cycloserine-cefoxitin-fructose agar (CCFA) and taurocholate-CCFA for recovery of Clostridium difficile during surveillance of hospitalized patients.

The effectiveness of cycloserine-cefoxitin-fructose agar (CCFA) and taurocholate-CCFA (TCCFA) in isolating Clostridium difficile from swabs of the rectum or stools from 184 hospitalized patients who were monitored weekly and when they had diarrhea was compared. The number of surveillance time points ranged from two to eight per patient over a period of 4 to 34 days per patient, totalling 621 comparisons of the media. C. difficile was isolated more frequently by TCCFA than CCFA at seven of eight surveillance points, a significant trend (O'Brien test, p = 0.002). This difference reached statistical significance at the second surveillance time point when the prevalence of C. difficile was sufficiently high. At the second surveillance point, C. difficle was isolated only by TCCFA in 7 of 184 comparisons of the media, only by CCFA in none of the comparisons, and by both media in 19 comparisons (p = 0.016). C. difficle was first isolated at an earlier surveillance time point on TCCFA in 11 of 36 patients and on CCFA first only once (p = 0.005). Use of TCCFA media increased the rapidity and sensitivity of culture for C. difficle when doing patient surveillance but did not increase sensitivity when diagnosing patients with diarrhea.

Antibiotics, Antitubercular↗

Influence of D-cycloserine on the anticonvulsant activity of some antiepileptic drugs against audiogenic seizures in DBA/2 mice.

D-Cycloserine (DCS; 1-100 mg/kg, intraperitoneally (i.p.)) was able to antagonise the audiogenic seizures in DBA/2 mice in a dose-dependent manner. DCS, 2.5 mg/kg i.p. did not significantly affect the occurrence of audiogenic seizures in DBA/2 mice, but potentiated the anticonvulsant activity of carbamazepine, diazepam, felbamate, lamotrigine, phenytoin, phenobarbital and valproate against sound-induced seizures in DBA/2 mice. The degree of potentiation induced by DCS was greatest for diazepam, phenobarbital, phenytoin and valproate, less for carbamazepine and least for lamotrigine and felbamate. The increase in anticonvulsant activity was usually associated with a comparable increase in motor impairment. However, the therapeutic index of the combined treatment of the above drugs+DCS, was more favourable than the same drugs+saline with the exception of DCS+carbamazepine and DCS+lamotrigine. Since DCS did not significantly influence the total and free plasma levels of the anticonvulsant drugs studied, pharmacokinetic interactions, in terms of plasma levels, are not probable. The possibility that DCS can modify the clearance from the brain of the anticonvulsant drugs studied cannot be excluded. DCS did not significantly affect the hypothermic effects of the anticonvulsants tested. In conclusion, DCS potentiates the anticonvulsant action of some classical antiepileptic drugs, most notably diazepam, phenobarbital, phenytoin and valproate.

Animals↗

Clinical perspectives on the combination of D-cycloserine and cognitive-behavioral therapy for the treatment of anxiety disorders.

In a particular success for translational research agendas, characterization of the neuronal circuits underlying fear extinction, and basic research in animal extinction paradigms, has led to intervention studies examining the use of D-cycloserine (DCS) to enhance therapeutic learning from exposure-based cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). In this article, we review these intervention studies, and discuss DCS augmentation of CBT relative to more traditional combination-treatment strategies in the treatment of anxiety disorders. We offer an accounting, based on evidence for internal context effects, of current limitations in the combination of antidepressant or benzodiazepine medications with CBT and discuss the advantages of isolated-dosing strategies with DCS relative to these limitations. This strategy is contrasted with the chronic-dosing applications of DCS for schizophrenia and Alzheimer's disease, and future directions for isolated-dosing strategies are discussed.

Animals↗

Age- and dose-dependent facilitation of associative eyeblink conditioning by D-cycloserine in rabbits.

Normal aging selectively impairs some forms of learning. For example, aging rabbits require more than twice as many trials to acquire 500-ms trace eyeblink conditioning than do young rabbits. N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonists also impair trace conditioning. The effects of daily D-cycloserine (DCS; a partial agonist of the NMDA receptor-glycine site) treatment were tested on trace conditioning of young or aging rabbits using a conservative quantitative approach. DCS dose dependently improved acquisition, maximally reducing trials to criterion by approximately 50%. Dose-response curves were right-shifted by aging (twice the dose was required to achieve the same enhancement compared with controls). DCS did not affect nonassociative performance but sharpened the conditioned stimulus tone intensity discrimination. DCS thus can functionally modulate NMDA receptors in normal aging, enhance associative learning at all ages, and reduce or reverse age-dependent learning deficits.

Age Factors↗

Effects of D-cycloserine on extinction of conditioned freezing.

The present study tested the prediction that D-cycloserine (DCS), a partial N-methyl-D-aspartate agonist, would facilitate extinction of conditioned freezing in male Sprague-Dawley rats. Rats received 5 light-shock pairings (conditioning). The following day, rats received 6 light-alone presentations (extinction training). Twenty-four hours later, rats received 1 light-alone presentation (test). Subcutaneous DCS injection before or after extinction training significantly enhanced extinction, and the dose-response curve for this effect was linear. Increasing the delay of DCS administration after extinction training led to a linear decrease in the facilitatory effect. The effect of systemic administration was replicated by intra-basolateral amygdala infusion. These results suggest that DCS facilitates extinction of conditioned freezing by acting on consolidation processes partly mediated by the basolateral amygdala.

Amygdala↗

D-cycloserine and the facilitation of extinction of conditioned fear: consequences for reinstatement.

Several recent studies have reported that D-cycloserine (DCS), a partial N-methyl-D-aspartate agonist, facilitates extinction of learned fear in rats. Other studies have shown that representation of the unconditioned stimulus (US) can reinstate learned fear after extinction. This study examined whether this reinstatement effect occurs in Sprague-Dawley rats given DCS at the time of extinction. Results showed that saline-treated rats exhibited the reinstatement effect but DCS-treated rats did not (Experiments 1 and 2). This lack of reinstatement in DCS-treated rats was not due to residual effects of DCS on either US or context processing (Experiment 3). Overall, these results (a) raise questions about the mechanisms underlying DCS facilitation of extinction and (b) suggest that DCS might have substantial practical benefit.

Analysis of Variance↗

D-cycloserine facilitates extinction but does not eliminate renewal of the conditioned emotional response.

The effect of D-cycloserine (DCS), an NMDA partial agonist, on extinction of fear was investigated in rats using the conditioned emotional response preparation. Fear extinction was facilitated when the first 4 trials occurred with a 30-mg/kg dose of DCS. However, extinguished fear was "renewed" regardless of the drug treatment when the rats were returned to the context in which fear had been conditioned. Additional results suggest that DCS's facilitation of extinction is a small but meaningful effect in the current method. The results suggest caution regarding the use of DCS as an adjunct to extinction: Although the drug may modestly facilitate extinction learning, it does not necessarily destroy the potential for relapse. Behavioral mechanisms are discussed.

Animals↗

Hippocampus-dependent learning facilitated by a monoclonal antibody or D-cycloserine.

Persistent neuronal plasticity, including that observed at some hippocampal synapses, requires N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA)-mediated transmission. NMDA receptor activation may be necessary for hippocampus-dependent learning as antagonists block acquisition in many such tasks. The behavioural effects of NMDA agonists are less well defined. We have shown that a monoclonal antibody (B6B21) displaced [3H]-glycine that was bound specifically to the NMDA receptor, and enhanced the opening of its integral cation channel in a glycine-like fashion, effects that were competitively antagonized by 7-chlorokynurenic acid. B6B21 also enhanced long-term potentiation in hippocampal slices. We report here that intraventricular infusions of B6B21 significantly enhances acquisition rates in hippocampus-dependent trace eye blink conditioning in rabbits, halving the number of trials required to reach a criterion of 80% conditioned responses. Peripheral injections of D-cycloserine, a partial agonist of the glycine site on the NMDA receptor which crosses the blood-brain barrier, also doubles rabbits' learning rates. Pseudoconditioning control experiments indicated a lack of nonspecific behavioural sensitization effects. Our data suggest that enhanced activation of the glycine coagonist site on the NMDA receptor/channel complex facilitates one form of associative learning and may be used in other learning tasks.

Animals↗

D-cycloserine facilitates synaptic plasticity but impairs glutamatergic neurotransmission in rat hippocampal slices.

1. The glycine-binding site of the glutamatergic N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor subtype (NMDAr) has been proposed as a putative target for treating cognitive impairments in neurodegenerative disorders and schizophrenia. Although behavioural evidence has been accumulated showing that the partial agonist d-cycloserine (DCS) facilitated learning and memory, physiological mechanisms of the drug still remained to be characterized. In the present study, we have investigated the effects of DCS on glutamatergic neurotransmission and synaptic plasticity in CA1 region of rat hippocampal slices, using extracellular field excitatory postsynaptic potentials. 2. We showed that DCS facilitated NMDAr-mediated synaptic potentials. In addition, we found that the magnitude of NMDAr-dependent long-term depression was significantly enhanced by the agonist, while the threshold for the induction of lasting potentiations was lowered. 3. We found that DCS decreased neurotransmission mediated by alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA)/kainate subtypes of glutamate receptors. This inhibition was not prevented by the gamma-aminobutyric acid GABAA antagonist bicuculline, but was antagonized by the glycine antagonist strychnine. 4. These results, therefore, show opposite effects of DCS on NMDA and non-NMDA synaptic responses within the hippocampus. They also demonstrate that DCS facilitates long-term synaptic plasticity that may support the DCS-induced enhanced cognitive performances.

6-Cyano-7-nitroquinoxaline-2,3-dione↗

Consolidation of human motor cortical neuroplasticity by D-cycloserine.

D-Cycloserine (CYC), a partial N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) agonist, has been shown to improve cognitive functions in humans. However, the neurophysiological basis of this effect is unclear so far. We studied the impact of this drug on long-lasting after-effects of transcranial direct current (tDCS)-generated motor cortical excitability shifts, as revealed by transcranial magnetic stimulation-elicited motor-evoked potentials. While anodal tDCS enhances motor cortical excitability, cathodal tDCS diminishes it. Both effects seem to be NMDA receptor dependent. D-CYC selectively potentiated the duration of motor cortical excitability enhancements induced by anodal tDCS. D-CYC alone did not modulate excitability. The potency of this drug to consolidate neuronal excitability enhancements, most probably by stabilizing the strengthening of NMDA receptors, which is a probable neurophysiological derivate of learning processes, makes it an interesting substance to improve cognitive functions.

Adult↗