Effects of arginine-vasopressin fragment 4-9 on rodent cholinergic systems

Arginine-vasopressin fragment 4-9 (AVP4-9) has been demonstrated in animal studies to facilitate learning and memory. To clarify the mechanisms of this facilitation, we focused on the effects of AVP4-9 on rodent cholinergic systems. AVP4-9 (0.1 microM) enhanced the basal and the high-potassium-evoked acetylcholine (ACh) release from rat hippocampal slices (122.4 and 120.0% of control, respectively) in the presence of 1.3 mM calcium (physiological level) at 60 min after the incubation at 37 degrees C. The AVP4-9-stimulated basal ACh release was inhibited by a V1-selective antagonist ([(beta-mercapto-beta,beta-cyclopentamethylene propionic acid)1, O-methyl-Tyr2, Arg8] vasopressin), but not by a V2-selective antagonist ([adamantaneacetyl1, O-ethyl-D-Tyr2, Val4, aminobutyryl6, Arg8,9]-vasopressin). In addition, AVP4-9 did not affect the basal ACh release under the calcium-free condition at 37 degrees C or in the presence of 1.3 mM calcium at 4 degrees C. However, AVP4-9 facilitated the passive-avoidance response of scopolamine (a cholinergic blocker)-induced memory-deficient mice. These findings demonstrate that AVP4-9 stimulates ACh release via mediation by V1-like vasopressin receptors, and shows dependence on calcium ion and temperature. The results also suggest that the mechanism of the facilitative effects of AVP4-9 on learning and memory consist of the observed stimulation of cholinergic systems and other parallel pathways that would not be inhibited by cholinergic blocking.