The effect of combination pretreatment of donepezil and environmental enrichment on memory deficits in amyloid-beta-induced Alzheimer-like rat model

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is progressive neurodegeneration known as the most common cause of dementia, and it is the sixth leading cause of death in older people. Given the promising data on the additive effect of combination therapy with donepezil (Aricept), an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor (AChEI), and regarding the similar neuronal mechanisms through which donepezil (DON) and environmental enrichment (EE) exert their enhancing effects on cognition; we asked whether simultaneous treatment with two paradigms in amyloid-beta-induced AD rats may lead to greater protection against the cognitive impairments than either treatment individually. The experimental groups consisted of Alz, sham-operated, Alz + DON, Alz + EE, and Alz + DON + EE. AD was induced by intrahippocampal injection of amyloid-beta (1–42, 6 μg), and DON was orally administrated (4 mg/kg) for 21 days. Environmental enrichment consisted of housing animals in large cages (50 × 50 × 50 cm) containing a running wheel and differently shaped objects for 21 days. Spatial learning and memory were assessed in the Morris water maze (MWM) and Real-time PCR was performed to assess the expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and M1 muscarinic acetylcholine receptor (AchM1R) within the hippocampus. Spatial memory was impaired in Alz animals, and while neither pretreatment with DON nor EE alone could significantly restore spatial memory scores in Alz rats, combination therapy was effective. BDNF expression was suppressed in Alz rats and pretreatment with DON plus EE could increase it to the saline levels. The data suggest that a cholinesterase inhibitor and cognitive stimulation can be used effectively in combination to protect cognitive loss in an AD rat model. This additive protective effect may be in part due to the augmented influence of this combination on BDNF levels and cholinergic neuronal system within the hippocampus.