The effects of single and repeated administrations of
ipidacrine (
NIK-247, 9-amino-2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8-hexahydro-1H-cyclopenta [b]
quinoline monohydrochloride monohydrate) on
scopolamine-induced spatial learning deficit were investigated in rats using the Morris water maze task. A single
oral administration of
ipidacrine (0.3 and 1 mg/kg) reduced the increased total latency induced by
scopolamine in this task. The repeated administration of
ipidacrine (1 mg/kg) of once a day for 5 successive days reduced the increased total latency induced by
scopolamine to the levels of the saline-treated control rats in this task. In this pharmaco-kinetic study,
ipidacrine was rapidly taken up into the brain within 5 min. Moreover, higher
drug levels were observed mainly in the cortex and hippocampus, which both play important roles in learning and memory. Thus, a previous study together with this investigation indicate that
ipidacrine improves
amnesia which consists of the impairment of the working and reference memory in various animal models, suggesting that
ipidacrine is a useful candidate for the
therapy of patients with
Alzheimer's disease.