Investigation of the role of brain nicotinic reeptors in rat obsessive compulsive disorder model

In our study, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) was induced by using quinpirole (QNP) , a D2 dopamine (DP) receptor agonist in rats. The aim of this study was to investigate brain nicotinic receptor gene expression in these rats and to investigate the treatment efficacy of specific nicotinic receptor agonists, cysticin (CYT), GTS-21 and SIB-1508Y. A total of 60 Wistar Albino male rats were divided into five groups as control (K) , QNP (0.2 mg / kg / once every four days), QNP+CYT and QNP+GTS-21, QNP+SIB-1508Y. At the end of 45 days, CYT (3mg / kg / day, sc), GTS-21 (3mg / kg / day, oral gavage) and SIB-1508Y (10mg / kg / day; sc) which are nicotinic receptor agonists were administered for 12 days. mRNA levels of nicotinic receptor-related genes in cortex, striatum and hypocamus tissues were evaluated by Quantitative Real Time-Polymerase Chain Reaction (qRT-PCR) and DP, serotonin (ST) and acetylcholine (ACH) levels in total brain were evaluated by ELISA. It was observed that QNP changed nicotinic acetylcholine reseptor (nAChR) expression in the three brain regions evaluated and these changes were normalized to a certain extent in the treatment groups (p <0.05). It was determined that brain DP levels increased in SIB-1508Y group compared to K and QNP groups and significantly increased in CYT group compared to QNP group (p <0.05). Brain ACH levels were significantly increased only in the QNP+SIB1508Y group compared to the K group (p = 0.008). It was determined that QNP disrupted 10 of the 13 different behaviors evaluated in the open field test, GTS-21 and SIB-1508Y used for treatment corrected two behaviors and CYT corrected 7 behaviors. According to the literature data, the present study was the first to evaluate the therapeutic efficacy of nAChR expressions and nAChR agonists in the "QNP rat OCD model". It is likely that CYT, which has the highest therapeutic efficacy, can achieve these effects by normalizing nAChR gene expression and DP levels. Keywords: Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Quinpirole, Brain, Nicotinic Acetyl Choline Receptors, Dopamine