The Effect of Acute Ethanol and Gabapentin Administration on Spatial Learning and Memory

 Introduction: Patients with epilepsy can have impaired cognitive abilities. Many factors contribute to this impairment, including the adverse effects of antiepileptic drugs like Gabapentin (GBP). Apart from anti-epilectic action, Gabapentin is used to relieve ethanol withdrawal syndrome. Because both GBP and ethanol act on GABA ergic system, the purpose of this study was to evaluate their effect and interaction on spatial learning and memory. Material and Methods: Male Sprague-Dawley rats were trained in the Morris water maze for 5 consecutive days. On the sixth day, a probe test was performed to assess the retention phase or spatial rats’ memory ability. Ethanol (1.5 g/kg i.p.) and GBP (30 mg/kg i.p.) was administered each day 30 and 40 minutes before testing respectively. Results: Acute ethanol administration selectively impaired spatial memory (p<0.05), yet it failed to impair the acquisition phase (learning). Contradictorily GBP selectively impaired learning on second and forth days. Conclusion: These findings demonstrate that GBP and acute ethanol impair different phases of learning probably by modifying different neuronal pathways in cognitive areas of the brain.