Effect of agmatine and nimodipine on excitotoxicity induced by manganese in rats

ObjectiveTo determine whether ag matine and nimodipine can prevent the toxic effects of manganese on glu-tamine synthetase,phosphate activated glutaminase,Na⁺-K⁺-ATPase and Ca²⁺-ATPase in rat striatum.Methods32 Wistar rats were divided into four groups by weight at randomization.The first group was the control group,the second group was given MnCl₂ only.The third and fourth groups were given agmatine and nimodipine respectively.The administration lasted 4 weeks.24 hours after the lastinjection,the activities of glutamine synthetase and phosphate activ ated glutaminase in striatum,the activities of Na⁺-K⁺-ATPase and Ca²⁺-ATPase in pallium were determined.ResultsCompared with the control group,the activities of glutamine synthetase (50.41±5.47)U/(min·g·pro),Na⁺-K⁺-ATPase (2.13±0.15)Lmol/(h·mg)and Ca²⁺-ATPase (0.56±0.28)Lmol/(h·mg) in the second g roup decreased significantly(P<0.01).The activity of phosphate activated glutaminase (72.24±9.38)Lmol/min·g·pro)increased significantly(P<0.01).Compared with the second group,the activities of glutamine snthetase,Na⁺-K⁺-ATPase and Ca²⁺-ATPase in the third and fourth groups increased significantly(P<0.01).And the activity of phosphate activated glutaminase decreased significantly(P<0.01).ConclusionAgmatine and nimodipine have certain protective effects on the excitotoxicity induced by manganese in Wistar rats.