Galantamine, a drug used to treat
Alzheimer's disease, is a nicotinic allosteric potentiating
ligand, and
kynurenic acid (KYNA), a neuroactive metabolite of the
kynurenine pathway, is an endogenous noncompetitive inhibitor of alpha7*
nicotinic receptors (nAChRs) [the asterisk next to the nAChR subunit is intended to indicate that the exact subunit composition of the receptor is not known (Pharmacol Rev 51:397-401, 1999)]. Here, possible interactions between KYNA and
galantamine at alpha7* nAChRs were examined in vitro and in vivo. In the presence of
tetrodotoxin (TTX), approximately 85% of cultured hippocampal neurons responded to
choline (0.3-30 mM) with alpha7* nAChR-subserved whole-cell (type IA) currents. In the absence of TTX and in the presence of
glutamate receptor antagonists,
choline triggered inhibitory postsynaptic currents (IPSCs) by activating alpha7* nAChRs on GABAergic neurons synapsing onto the neurons under study.
Galantamine (1-10 microM) potentiated, whereas KYNA (10 nM-1 mM) inhibited,
choline-triggered responses.
Galantamine (1 microM), applied before KYNA, shifted to the right the concentration-response relationship for KYNA to inhibit type IA currents, increasing the IC(50) of KYNA from 13.9 +/- 8.3 to 271 +/- 131 microM.
Galantamine, applied before or after KYNA, antagonized inhibition of
choline-triggered IPSCs by KYNA. Local infusion of KYNA (100 nM) in the rat striatum reduced extracellular
dopamine levels in vivo. This effect resulted from alpha7* nAChR inhibition and was blocked by coapplied
galantamine (1-5 microM). It is concluded that
galantamine competitively antagonizes the actions of KYNA on alpha7* nAChRs. Reducing alpha7* nAChR inhibition by endogenous KYNA may be an important determinant of the effectiveness of
galantamine in neurological and
psychiatric disorders associated with decreased alpha7* nAChR activity in the brain.