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Published on: August 25, 2014
N-acetyl cysteine reverses bio-behavioural changes induced by prenatal inflammation, adolescent methamphetamine
Twanette Swanepoel1, Marisa Möller1, Brian Herbert Harvey2,3
1Division of Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy, North West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa.
Rationale:
Schizophrenia is associated with prenatal inflammation and/or postnatal stressors such as drug abuse, resulting in immune-redox dysfunction. Antioxidants may offer therapeutic benefits.
Objectives:
The objective of this study is to investigate N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) as a therapeutic antioxidant to reverse schizophrenia-like bio-behavioural changes in rats exposed to maternal immune activation (MIA), adolescent methamphetamine (MA) or a combination thereof.
Methods:
Sprague-Dawley offspring prenatally exposed to saline/lipopolysaccharide (LPS) received saline or MA (0.2-6 mg kg-1 twice daily × 16 days) during adolescence and divided into LPS, MA and LPS + MA groups. Vehicle/NAC (150 mg kg-1 × 14 days) was administered following MA/saline exposure on postnatal day 51-64. Social interaction, novel object recognition and prepulse inhibition (PPI) of startle, as well as regional brain monoamines, lipid peroxidation, plasma reactive oxygen species (ROS) and pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α; IL-10), were assessed.
Results:
NAC reversed LPS, MA and LPS + MA-induced anxiety-like social withdrawal behaviours, as well as MA and LPS + MA-induced deficits in recognition memory. PPI deficits were evident in MA, LPS and LPS + MA models, with NAC reversing that following LPS + MA. NAC reversed LPS, MA and LPS + MA-induced frontal cortical dopamine (DA) and noradrenaline (NA) elevations, LPS and LPS + MA-induced frontal cortical 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC), serotonin (5-HT) and striatal NA deficits as well as LPS + MA-induced frontal cortical 5-HT turnover. Decreased IL-10 in the LPS, MA and LPS + MA animals, and increased TNF-α in the LPS and MA animals, was reversed with NAC. NAC also reversed elevated lipid peroxidation and ROS in the LPS and LPS + MA animals.
Conclusions:
Prenatal LPS, LPS + postnatal MA challenge during adolescence, and to a lesser extent MA alone, promotes schizophrenia-like bio-behavioural changes later in life that are reversed by NAC, emphasizing therapeutic potential for schizophrenia and MA-associated psychosis. The nature and timing of the dual-hit are critical.
