Excerpt from the book, Methods & Findings in Experimental & Clinical Pharmacology.
Methods Find Exp Clin Pharmacol 1998, 20(4): 311
ISSN 0379-0355
Copyright 1998 Prous Science
CCC: 0379-0355
DOI: 10.1358/mf.1998.20.4.485685
Evidence of GABAergic modulation in melatonin-induced short-term memory deficits
and food consumption
Shaji, A.V., Kulkarni, S.K.
Many of the pharmacological effects of melatonin have been found to be similar
to those of benzodiazepines. In the present study, we analyzed the role of
melatonin on short-term memory retrieval on transfer latency in elevated plus
maze and food consumption behavior, and the effects were compared with those of
diazepam. Melatonin dose-dependently (10-100 mg/kg) produced short-term memory
deficit and it potentiated diazepam- (1 mg/kg) induced cognitive deficit in
mice. Flumazenil (1 and 4 mg/kg) could reverse enhancement in diazepam-induced
memory deficit by melatonin. Chronic treatment with melatonin (10 mg/kg/7d)
produced a similar profile in transfer latency on elevated plus maze compared
with that of diazepam. In a food consumption behavior study, melatonin (25 and
50 mg/kg) produced a significant hyperphagic effect compared to control.
Flumazenil (4 mg/kg) could significantly reverse the hyperphagic effects induced
by diazepam (2 mg/kg), but would be insignificant with regard to that due to
melatonin. These findings provide further evidence that some of the
pharmacological effects of melatonin are comparable with those of diazepam and
may involve central GABAergic mechanism.