Anapsos reverses interleukin-1 beta overexpression and behavioral deficits in nbM-lesioned rats

Rats with neurotoxic lesions, induced by single or double bilateral injections of ibotenic acid into different parts of the nucleus basalis of Meynert (nbM), showed increased psychomotor activity (PMA) and impaired learning in a passive avoidance task. Behavioral deficits were similar in all the groups of lesioned animals, suggesting that the lesion site was not relevant for the ibotenic effects under testing procedures used here. In another experiment, nbM-lesioned rats received acute or daily (5 days) i.p. injections of vehicle or anapsos (100 mg/kg) from the 7th day after surgery. Data indicated that nbM lesions induced an increased production of interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta), motor hyperactivity and learning impairment, and that anapsos, a vegetal extract with immunomodulatory activity, reversed brain IL-1 beta overexpression and behavioral alterations in lesioned rats. These results confirm the involvement of IL-1 beta in neurodegeneration associated with cholinergic deficits and the potential utility of compounds with neuroimmunotrophic activity as a new therapeutic strategy in neurodegenerative disorders.