¹Section of Neuropsychopharmacology, Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden

Correspondence: Dr B Schilström, Section of Neuropsychopharmacology, Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Karolinska Institutet, 171 77 Stockholm, Sweden, Tel: +46 8 5248 7916; Fax: +46 8 308424; E-mail: bjorn.schilstrom@fyfa.ki.se

Received 23 January 2006; Revised 7 March 2006; Accepted 16 March 2006; Published online 26 April 2006.

Abstract

Clinical studies suggest that adjunct galantamine may improve negative and cognitive symptoms in schizophrenia. These symptoms may be related to impaired dopaminergic function in the prefrontal cortex. Indeed, galantamine has been shown to increase dopamine release in vitro. Galantamine is an allosteric modulator of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) and, at higher doses, an acetylcholine esterase (AChE) inhibitor. We have previously shown that nicotine, through stimulation of nAChRs in the ventral tegmental area (VTA), activates midbrain dopamine neurons and, hence, potentiation of these receptors could be an additional mechanism by which galantamine can activate dopaminergic pathways. Therefore, the effects of galantamine (0.01–1.0 mg/kg s.c.) on dopamine cell firing were tested in anaesthetized rats. Already at a low dose, unlikely to result in significant AchE inhibition, galantamine increased firing activity of dopaminergic cells in the VTA. The effect of galantamine was prevented by the nAChR antagonist mecamylamine (1.0 mg/kg s.c.), but not the muscarinic receptor antagonist scopolamine (0.1 mg/kg s.c.), and it was not mimicked by the selective AChE inhibitor donepezil (1.0 mg/kg s.c.). Our data thus indicate that galantamine increases dopaminergic activity through allosteric potentiation of nAChRs. Galantamine's effect was also prevented by the 7 nAChR antagonist methyllycaconitine (6.0 mg/kg i.p.) as well as the N-methyl-D-aspartate antagonist CGP39551 (2.5 mg/kg s.c.), indicating a mechanism involving presynaptic facilitation of glutamate release. In parallel microdialysis experiments, galantamine was found to increase extracellular levels of dopamine in the medial prefrontal cortex. These results may have bearing on the enhancement of negative and cognitive symptoms in schizophrenia.