auraptene consolidates memory, reverses scopolamine-disrupted memory in passive avoidance task, and ameliorates retention deficits in mice

objective(s): auraptene (7-geranyloxycoumarin) (aur), from citrus species has shown anti-inflammatory, neuroprotective, and acetylcholinesterase (ache) and beta-secretase inhibitory effects. scopolamine is a nonselective muscarinic receptor antagonist which causes short-term memory impairments and is used for inducing animal model of alzheimer’s disease (ad). this research aimed to investigate the effect of aur on scopolamine-induced avoidance memory retention deficits in step-through task in mice. materials and methods: the effect of four-day pre-training injections of aur (50, 75, and 100 mg/kg, subcutaneous (sc)) and scopolamine (1 mg/kg, ip), and their co-administration on avoidance memory retention in step-through passive avoidance task, was investigated by measuring the latency to enter to the dark chamber. results:pre-training administration of aur caused significant increase in step-through latency in comparison with control group, 48, 96, and 168 hr after training trial. the findings of this study showed that scopolamine (1 mg/kg, ip, for four consecutive days) impaired passive avoidance memory retention compared to saline-treated animals. step-through passive avoidance task results showed that aur markedly reversed scopolamine-induced avoidance memory retention impairments, 24 and 168 hr after training trial in step-through task. conclusion: results from co-administration of aur and scopolamine showed that aur reversed scopolamine-induced passive avoidance memory retention impairments.