Role of nicotine on cognitive and behavioral deficits in sepsis-surviving rats

Sepsis and its complications are important causes of mortality in intensive care units and sepsis survivors may present long-term cognitive and emotional impairments, including memory deficits and anxiety symptoms. In the present study, we investigated whether repeated nicotine administration can affect the behavioral changes in sepsis-surviving rats. Male Wistar rats were divided in two groups: sham-operated and experimental sepsis induced by cecal ligation and puncture (CLP). The animals were injected subcutaneously with nicotine (0.1 mg/kg) or vehicle once a day during 1 week before and/or 1 week after sepsis induction. Thirty minutes after the last administration (i.e., 7 days after surgery), the animals were tested in the open field, elevated plus-maze and step-down inhibitory avoidance tasks. The repeated nicotine treatment did not affect the survival rate in the sepsis group (50%). Moreover, no significant changes on locomotor activity were observed in the sepsis group while the treatment with nicotine during 1 week after surgery reduced the locomotion of sepsis-surviving rats in the open field. It is important to note that both schedules of nicotine treatment (prior and/or after CLP) improved the sepsis-induced anxiogenic-like responses. Interestingly, nicotine was able to improve short- and long-term inhibitory avoidance memory impairments, observed in sepsis survivors, only when administered during 2 consecutive weeks (i.e., prior and after CLP). Taken together, these results indicate that repeated nicotine administration does not alter the survival rate in rats submitted to CLP and provide new evidence that nicotine can improve long-lasting memory impairments and anxiogenic-like responses in sepsis-surviving animals.