Kaveh Tabrizian
1 
, Morteza Esmaeilei
2, Mahmoud Hashemzaei
1, Arezoo Esmaeilzaei
2, Sahar Fanoudi
3* , Mehdi Sanati
4, Maryam Belaran
5, Mehrafrooz Rigi
2, Ali Bazi
6, Najla Anvari
7, Ramin Rezaee
81 Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Zabol University of Medical Sciences, Zabol, Iran.
2 Students Research Committee, Faculty of Pharmacy, Zabol University of Medical Sciences, Zabol, Iran.
3 Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
4 Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
5 Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Zabol University of Medical Sciences, Zabol, Iran.
6 Clinical Research Development Unit, Zabol University of Medical Sciences, Zabol, Iran.
7 Student Research Committee, Nursing and Midwifery School, Zabol University of Medical Sciences, Zabol, Iran.
8 Clinical Research Unit, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
Abstract
Background: Vanadium is a potential neurotoxic agent widely distributed in the environment. Understanding the neurotoxic mechanisms of vanadium on learning and memory seems necessary. Methods: We investigated the time-dependent (1-week, 2- week and 4-week) effects of sodium metavanadate (SMV) (25 mg/kg/day; pre-training oral administration) and 4-day intraperitoneal injections of aminoguanidine (AG) as a selective inducible nitric oxide synthase inhibitor (10, 50, and 100 mg/kg) on spatial memory retention in Morris water maze. Animals were trained for 4 days and tested 48 h after the last training trial. Results: The data showed that 4-week oral pre-treatment with SMV (25 mg/kg/day) induced spatial memory retention deficits and decreased the time spent in the target quadrant. We found that 4-day administration of different doses of AG during training trials significantly decreased the time and distance of finding the hidden platforms. Additionally, SMV-induced spatial memory retention impairments were prevented in animals received combined SMV (25 mg/kg/day, 4 weeks) and AG (10 mg/kg/day, 4 days). Conclusion: Our findings showed the protective role of AG on SMV-induced spatial memory retention deficits.