1. ¹Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, OR, USA
2. ²Department of Pharmacochemistry, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
3. ³Department of Neurology, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, OR, USA
4. ⁴Division of Neuroscience, ONPRC, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, OR, USA

Correspondence: Dr J Raber, Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, L470, Oregon Health and Science University, 3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Road, Portland, OR 97239, USA. Tel: +1 503 494 1524 (office); +1 503 494 1431 (lab); Fax: +1 503 494-6877; E-mail: raberj@ohsu.edu

Received 14 December 2005; Revised 9 March 2006; Accepted 27 March 2006; Published online 10 May 2006.

Abstract

As prenatal methamphetamine (MA) exposure results in long-term hippocampus-dependent cognitive deficits, the increased MA use in women of childbearing age is of great concern. As mice are most commonly used in genetic models, we started to study the potential effects of neonatal MA exposure in female and male mice on brain function 3 months later. As histamine (HA) might mediate some effects of MA in adulthood, we also tested whether in neonates HA might mediate the long-term effects of MA using HA H₃ receptor agonists and antagonists. Stimulation of HA H₃ receptors by H₃ agonists inhibits HA synthesis and release, whereas inhibition of H₃ receptors by H₃ receptor antagonists increases HA release. MA (5 mg/kg), the H₃ receptor antagonist thioperamide (5 mg/kg), and the H₃ receptor agonist immepip (5 mg/kg) alone or in the presence of MA (5 mg/kg) were administered once daily from postnatal days 11 to 20 and the mice were tested at 3 months of age. Here we show that in mice exposure to MA early in life causes sex-dependent impairments in object recognition, spatial learning, and memory in the water maze, and pre-pulse inhibition in adulthood. HA mediates these impairments. Increasing HA release mimicked, whereas inhibiting HA release blocked the long-term detrimental MA effects. This model could be used to determine the role of genetic and environmental factors in MA-dependent cognitive impairments and to develop therapeutic strategies to inhibit them.