Combination effects of ZSET1446/ST101 with memantine on cognitive function and extracellular acetylcholine in the hippocampus

In the novel object recognition task, ZSET1446 (also coded as ST101) enhanced object recognition memory in mice and ameliorated cognitive impairment caused by scopolamine in rats. The enhancement induced by ZSET1446 in mice was abolished by injection of mechamylamine, a nonselective antagonist of nicotinic acetylcholine (ACh) receptors, or dihydro-β-erythroidine, a selective antagonist against the α4 subunit of nicotinic ACh receptors. These results suggest that the procognitive effect of ZSET146 is probably mediated by stimulation of nicotinic receptors. Memantine was also effective in these tests and concomitant administration of subeffective doses of ZSET1446 and memantine significantly ameliorated the cognitive performance in the novel object recognition task in both mice and rats. Moreover, oral administration of ZSET1446 or memantine increased the extracellular level of ACh in the hippocampus as compared with the control. Further, concomitant administration of subeffective doses of ZSET1446 and memantine significantly increased the extracellular level of ACh as compared with the group of ZSET1446 or memantine alone. These results suggest that these two compounds have a synergistic effect on the cognitive function possibly by synergistic increase in the extracellular level of ACh in the hippocampus, and that the combination therapy of these compounds might be effective in clinical settings.