Jpn. J. Pharmacol. 76 (3), 321-323 (1998)


Repeated Injections of Nicergoline Increase the Nerve Growth Factor Level in the Aged Rat Brain

Takeshi Nishio (1,#), Nobuhiko Sunohara (1), Shoei Furukawa (2), Ichiro Akiguchi (3) and Yukitsuka Kudo (4)


(1) Department of Neurology, Musashi Hospital, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, 4-1-1, Ogawahigashi, Kodaira, Tokyo 187, Japan
(2) Department of Molecular Biology, Gifu Pharmaceutical University, 5-6-1, Mitahorahigashi, Gifu 502, Japan
(3) Department of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine, Kyoto University, Shogoin-Kawaharacho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606, Japan
(4) Department of CNS Pharmacology, Tanabe Seiyaku Co., Ltd., Kawagishi 2-2-50, Toda 335, Japan
(#) Present address for correspondence: Department of Integrative Brain Science, Faculty of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan

Abstract: We studied whether nicergoline, clinically active in chronic cerebrovascular insufficiency, influences nerve growth factor (NGF) levels in the rat brain. In young Fischer rats, repeated intraperitoneal injections of nicergoline (0.3 and 1.0 mg/kg body weight) did not show any effects on frontal NGF contents determined by a highly sensitive enzyme immunoassay. In aged rats, 22-month-old, however, repeated injections of nicergoline (1.0 mg/kg body weight) induced a significant increase in the NGF level in the frontal region.


Keywords: Nerve growth factor, Nicergoline, Aged rat brain


Copyright© The Japanese Pharmacological Society 1998

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