Orexin deficiency affects sensorimotor gating and its amphetamine-induced impairment

The orexin neuropeptides have an important role in the regulation of the sleep/wake cycle and foraging, as well as in reward processing and emotions. Furthermore, recent research implicates the orexin system in different behavioral endophenotypes of neuropsychiatric diseases such as social avoidance and cognitive flexibility. Utilizing orexin-deficient mice, the present study tested the hypothesis that orexin is involved in two further mouse behavioral endophenotypes of neuropsychiatric disorders, i.e., sensorimotor gating and amphetamine sensitivity. The data revealed that orexin-deficient mice expressed a deficit in sensorimotor gating, measured by prepulse inhibition of the startle response. Amphetamine treatment impaired prepulse inhibition in wildtype and heterozygous orexin-deficient mice, but had no effects in homozygous orexin-deficient mice. Furthermore, locomotor activity and center time in the open field was not affected by orexin deficiency but was similarly increased or decreased, respectively, by amphetamine treatment in all genotypes. These data indicate that the orexin system modulates prepulse inhibition and is involved in mediating amphetamine's effect on prepulse inhibition. Future studies should investigate whether pharmacological manipulations of the orexin system can be used to treat neuropsychiatric diseases associated with deficits in sensorimotor gating, such as schizophrenia or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Central Histamine Boosts Perirhinal Cortex Activity and Restores Forgotten Object Memories

BACKGROUND

A method that promotes the retrieval of lost long-term memories has not been well established. Histamine in the central nervous system is implicated in learning and memory, and treatment with antihistamines impairs learning and memory. Because histamine H₃ receptor inverse agonists upregulate histamine release, the inverse agonists may enhance learning and memory. However, whether the inverse agonists promote the retrieval of forgotten long-term memory has not yet been determined.

METHODS

Here, we employed multidisciplinary methods, including mouse behavior, calcium imaging, and chemogenetic manipulation, to examine whether and how the histamine H₃ receptor inverse agonists, thioperamide and betahistine, promote the retrieval of a forgotten long-term object memory in mice. In addition, we conducted a randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover trial in healthy adult participants to investigate whether betahistine treatment promotes memory retrieval in humans.

RESULTS

The treatment of H₃ receptor inverse agonists induced the recall of forgotten memories even 1 week and 1 month after training in mice. The memory recovery was mediated by the disinhibition of histamine release in the perirhinal cortex, which activated the histamine H₂ receptor. Histamine depolarized perirhinal cortex neurons, enhanced their spontaneous activity, and facilitated the reactivation of behaviorally activated neuronal ensembles. A human clinical trial revealed that treatment of H₃ receptor inverse agonists is specifically more effective for items that are more difficult to remember and subjects with poorer performance.

CONCLUSIONS

These results highlight a novel interaction between the central histamine signaling and memory engrams.

From ergolines to indoles: improved inhibitors of the human H3 receptor for the treatment of narcolepsy

Ergolines were recently identified as a novel class of H3 receptor (H3R) inverse agonists. Although their optimization led to drug candidates with encouraging properties for the treatment of narcolepsy, brain penetration remained low. To overcome this issue, ergoline 1 ((6aR,9R,10aR)-4-(2-(dimethylamino)ethyl)-N-phenyl-9-(pyrrolidine-1-carbonyl)-6,6a,8,9,10,10a-hexahydroindolo[4,3-fg]quinoline-7(4H)-carboxamide)) was transformed into a series of indole derivatives with high H3R affinity. These new molecules were profiled by simultaneous determination of their brain receptor occupancy (RO) levels and pharmacodynamic (PD) effects in mice. These efforts culminated in the discovery of 15 m ((R)-1-isopropyl-5-(1-(2-(2-methylpyrrolidin-1-yl)ethyl)-1H-indol-4-yl)pyridin-2(1H)-one), which has an ideal profile showing a strong correlation of PD effects with RO, and no measurable safety liabilities. Its desirably short duration of action was confirmed by electroencephalography (EEG) measurements in rats.