Behavioral effects of the alpha(2)-adrenoceptor antagonist, atipamezole, after focal cerebral ischemia in rats.

The present study characterized the behavioral effects of the selective alpha(2)-adrenoceptor antagonist, atipamezole, in a rat model of focal cerebral ischemia. Atipamezole (1 mg/kg, s.c.) or desipramine (5 mg/kg, i.p.), a noradrenaline reuptake blocker, was administered either as a single injection 2 days after ischemia induction or for 10 days thereafter (subacute administration). A subacute atipamezole treatment given 30 min before behavioral assessment improved performance in the limb-placing test (days 5, 7, 9, and 11) and in the foot-slip test (days 3 and 7), but not in the beam-walking test. There was no difference between experimental groups in behavioral performance following a single administration of atipamezole or following single or subacute administration of desipramine. The drug treatments did not attenuate the impairment of spatial cognitive performance of ischemic rats in the Morris water-maze test. These results suggest that repeated use-dependent release of noradrenaline by atipamezole facilitates the sensorimotor recovery following focal cerebral ischemia in rats.