BACKGROUND: Elevated brain levels of kynurenic acid (KYNA), a metabolite in the kynurenine pathway, are associated with cognitive dysfunctions, which are nowadays often considered as fundamental characteristics of several psychopathologies; however, the role of KYNA in mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia, is not fully elucidated. This study aimed to assess KYNA levels in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) of rats prenatally treated with methylazoxymethanol (MAM) acetate, i.e., a well-validated neurodevelopmental animal model of schizophrenia. The effects of an early pharmacological modulation of the endogenous cannabinoid system were also evaluated. METHODS: Pregnant Sprague-Dawley rats were treated with MAM (22 mg/kg, ip) or its vehicle at gestational day 17. Male offspring were treated with the cannabinoid CB1 receptor antagonist/inverse agonist AM251 (0.5 mg/kg/day, ip) or with the typical antipsychotic haloperidol (0.6 mg/kg/day, ip) from postnatal day (PND) 19 to PND39. The locomotor activity and cognitive performance were assessed in the novel object recognition test and the open field test in adulthood. KYNA levels in the PFC of prenatally MAM-treated rats were also assessed. RESULTS: A significant cognitive impairment was observed in prenatally MAM-treated rats (p < 0.01), which was associated with enhanced PFC KYNA levels (p < 0.05). The peripubertal AM251, but not haloperidol, treatment ameliorated the cognitive deficit (p < 0.05), by normalizing the PFC KYNA content in MAM rats. CONCLUSIONS: The present findings suggest that the cognitive deficit observed in MAM rats may be related to enhanced PFC KYNA levels which could be, in turn, mediated by the activation of cannabinoid CB1 receptor. These results further support the modulation of brain KYNA levels as a potential therapeutic strategy to ameliorate the cognitive dysfunctions in schizophrenia.

• Keywords
• AM251, Haloperidol, Kynurenine Pathway, Novel object recognition test, Peripubertal treatment, Schizophrenia,
• MeSH
• Antipsychotic Agents pharmacology   MeSH
• Haloperidol pharmacology   MeSH
• Cognitive Dysfunction metabolism   drug therapy   MeSH
• Rats MeSH
• Kynurenic Acid * metabolism   MeSH
• Methylazoxymethanol Acetate * analogs & derivatives   MeSH
• Disease Models, Animal MeSH
• Piperidines pharmacology   MeSH
• Rats, Sprague-Dawley * MeSH
• Prefrontal Cortex * metabolism   drug effects   MeSH
• Pyrazoles pharmacology   MeSH
• Receptor, Cannabinoid, CB1 metabolism   MeSH
• Schizophrenia * metabolism   drug therapy   MeSH
• Pregnancy MeSH
• Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects * metabolism   MeSH
• Animals MeSH
• Check Tag
• Rats MeSH
• Male MeSH
• Pregnancy MeSH
• Female MeSH
• Animals MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Names of Substances
• AM 251 MeSH Browser
• Antipsychotic Agents MeSH
• Haloperidol MeSH
• Kynurenic Acid * MeSH
• Methylazoxymethanol Acetate * MeSH
• Piperidines MeSH
• Pyrazoles MeSH
• Receptor, Cannabinoid, CB1 MeSH

AIM: Widely used second-generation antipsychotics are associated with adverse metabolic effects, contributing to increased cardiovascular mortality. To develop strategies to prevent or treat adverse metabolic effects, preclinical models have a clear role in uncovering underlying molecular mechanisms. However, with few exceptions, preclinical studies have been performed in healthy animals, neglecting the contribution of dysmetabolic features inherent to psychotic disorders. METHODS: In this study, methylazoxymethanol acetate (MAM) was prenatally administered to pregnant Sprague-Dawley rats at gestational day 17 to induce a well-validated neurodevelopmental model of schizophrenia mimicking its assumed pathogenesis with persistent phenotype. Against this background, the dysmetabolic effects of acute treatment with olanzapine and haloperidol were examined in female rats. RESULTS: Prenatally MAM-exposed animals exhibited several metabolic features, including lipid disturbances. Half of the MAM rats exposed to olanzapine had pronounced serum lipid profile alteration compared to non-MAM controls, interpreted as a reflection of a delicate MAM-induced metabolic balance disrupted by olanzapine. In accordance with the drugs' clinical metabolic profiles, olanzapine-associated dysmetabolic effects were more pronounced than haloperidol-associated dysmetabolic effects in non-MAM rats and rats exposed to MAM. CONCLUSION: Our results demonstrate metabolic vulnerability in female prenatally MAM-exposed rats, indicating that findings from healthy animals likely provide an underestimated impression of metabolic dysfunction associated with antipsychotics. In the context of metabolic disturbances, neurodevelopmental models possess a relevant background, and the search for adequate animal models should receive more attention within the field of experimental psychopharmacology.

• Keywords
• adipokine, antipsychotic, lipid profile, methylazoxymethanol, schizophrenia,
• MeSH
• Antipsychotic Agents * therapeutic use   MeSH
• Haloperidol * toxicity   MeSH
• Rats MeSH
• Lipids MeSH
• Methylazoxymethanol Acetate toxicity   analogs & derivatives   MeSH
• Disease Models, Animal MeSH
• Olanzapine toxicity   MeSH
• Rats, Sprague-Dawley MeSH
• Pregnancy MeSH
• Animals MeSH
• Check Tag
• Rats MeSH
• Pregnancy MeSH
• Female MeSH
• Animals MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
• Names of Substances
• Antipsychotic Agents * MeSH
• Haloperidol * MeSH
• Lipids MeSH
• methylazoxymethanol MeSH Browser
• Methylazoxymethanol Acetate MeSH
• Olanzapine MeSH

Introduction: An altered neurodevelopmental trajectory associated with prenatal exposure to ∆-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) leads to aberrant cognitive processing through a perturbation in the effectors of hippocampal plasticity in the juvenile offspring. As adolescence presents a unique window of opportunity for "brain reprogramming", we aimed at assessing the role of the non-psychoactive phytocannabinoid cannabidiol (CBD) as a rescue strategy to temper prenatal THC-induced harm. Methods: To this aim, Wistar rats prenatally exposed to THC (2 mg/kg s.c.) or vehicle (gestational days 5-20) were tested for specific indexes of spatial and configural memory in the reinforcement-motivated Can test and in the aversion-driven Barnes maze test during adolescence. Markers of hippocampal excitatory plasticity and endocannabinoid signaling-NMDAR subunits NR1 and 2A-, mGluR5-, and their respective scaffold proteins PSD95- and Homer 1-; CB1R- and the neuromodulatory protein HINT1 mRNA levels were evaluated. CBD (40 mg/kg i.p.) was administered to the adolescent offspring before the cognitive tasks. Results: The present results show that prenatal THC impairs hippocampal memory functions and the underlying synaptic plasticity; CBD is able to mitigate cognitive impairment in both reinforcement- and aversion-related tasks and the neuroadaptation of hippocampal excitatory synapses and CB1R-related signaling. Discussion: While this research shows CBD potential in dampening prenatal THC-induced consequences, we point out the urgency to curb cannabis use during pregnancy in order to avoid detrimental bio-behavioral outcomes in the offspring.

• Keywords
• CB1R, adolescent offspring, cannabidiol, hippocampal excitatory synapse, prenatal THC exposure, spatial memory,
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH

Previous evidence suggests that prenatal exposure to THC (pTHC) derails the neurodevelopmental trajectories towards a vulnerable phenotype for impaired emotional regulation and limbic memory. Here we aimed to investigate pTHC effect on hippocampus-related cognitive functions and markers of neuroplasticity in adolescent male offspring. Wistar rats were exposed to THC (2 mg/kg) from gestational day 5 to 20 and tested for spatial memory, object recognition memory and reversal learning in the reinforce-motivated Can test and in the aversion-driven Barnes maze test; locomotor activity and exploration, anxiety-like behaviour, and response to natural reward were assessed in the open field, elevated plus maze, and sucrose preference tests, respectively. The gene expression levels of NMDA NR1-2A subunits, mGluR5, and their respective scaffold proteins PSD95 and Homer1, as well as CB1R and the neuromodulatory protein HINT1, were measured in the hippocampus. pTHC offspring exhibited deficits in spatial and object recognition memory and reversal learning, increased locomotor activity, increased NR1-, decreased NR2A- and PSD95-, increased mGluR5- and Homer1-, and augmented CB1R- and HINT1-hippocampal mRNA levels. Our data shows that pTHC is associated with specific impairment in spatial cognitive processing and effectors of hippocampal neuroplasticity and suggests novel targets for future pharmacological challenges.

• Keywords
• CB1R expression, adolescent rat offspring, hippocampal excitatory plasticity, prenatal THC exposure, spatial learning and memory,
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH

Adolescent exposure to cannabinoids as a postnatal environmental insult may increase the risk of psychosis in subjects exposed to perinatal insult, as suggested by the two-hit hypothesis of schizophrenia. Here, we hypothesized that peripubertal Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (aTHC) may affect the impact of prenatal methylazoxymethanol acetate (MAM) or perinatal THC (pTHC) exposure in adult rats. We found that MAM and pTHC-exposed rats, when compared to the control group (CNT), were characterized by adult phenotype relevant to schizophrenia, including social withdrawal and cognitive impairment, as revealed by social interaction test and novel object recognition test, respectively. At the molecular level, we observed an increase in cannabinoid CB1 receptor (Cnr1) and/or dopamine D2/D3 receptor (Drd2, Drd3) gene expression in the prefrontal cortex of adult MAM or pTHC-exposed rats, which we attributed to changes in DNA methylation at key regulatory gene regions. Interestingly, aTHC treatment significantly impaired social behavior, but not cognitive performance in CNT groups. In pTHC rats, aTHC did not exacerbate the altered phenotype nor dopaminergic signaling, while it reversed cognitive deficit in MAM rats by modulating Drd2 and Drd3 gene expression. In conclusion, our results suggest that the effects of peripubertal THC exposure may depend on individual differences related to dopaminergic neurotransmission.

• Keywords
• dopamine D2/D3 receptors, methylazoxymethanol acetate, psychopathology, Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol,
• MeSH
• Dopamine metabolism   MeSH
• Rats MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Disease Models, Animal MeSH
• Prefrontal Cortex drug effects   metabolism   MeSH
• Receptors, Dopamine D3 metabolism   MeSH
• Schizophrenia * chemically induced   MeSH
• Pregnancy MeSH
• Dronabinol * toxicity   MeSH
• Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects * metabolism   MeSH
• Animals MeSH
• Check Tag
• Rats MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Pregnancy MeSH
• Female MeSH
• Animals MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Names of Substances
• Dopamine MeSH
• Receptors, Dopamine D3 MeSH
• Dronabinol * MeSH

In agreement with the neurodevelopmental hypothesis of schizophrenia, prenatal exposure of Sprague-Dawley rats to the antimitotic agent methylazoxymethanol acetate (MAM) at gestational day 17 produces long-lasting behavioral alterations such as social withdrawal and cognitive impairment in adulthood, mimicking a schizophrenia-like phenotype. These abnormalities were preceded at neonatal age both by the delayed appearance of neonatal reflexes, an index of impaired brain maturation, and by higher 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG) brain levels. Schizophrenia-like deficits were reversed by early treatment [from postnatal day (PND) 2 to PND 8] with the CB1 antagonist/inverse agonist AM251 (0.5 mg/kg/day). By contrast, early CB1 blockade affected the behavioral performance of control rats which was paralleled by enhanced 2-AG content in the prefrontal cortex (PFC). These results suggest that prenatal MAM insult leads to premorbid anomalies at neonatal age via altered tone of the endocannabinoid system, which may be considered as an early marker preceding the development of schizophrenia-like alterations in adulthood.

• Keywords
• 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG), AM251, MAM model, cannabinoid CB1 receptor, endocannabinoid system, schizophrenia,
• MeSH
• Rats MeSH
• Methylazoxymethanol Acetate * MeSH
• Disease Models, Animal MeSH
• Rats, Sprague-Dawley MeSH
• Receptor, Cannabinoid, CB1 MeSH
• Schizophrenia * chemically induced   drug therapy   genetics   MeSH
• Pregnancy MeSH
• Animals MeSH
• Check Tag
• Rats MeSH
• Pregnancy MeSH
• Female MeSH
• Animals MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
• Names of Substances
• Methylazoxymethanol Acetate * MeSH
• Receptor, Cannabinoid, CB1 MeSH