%0 Journal Article %T Neopterin acts as an endogenous cognitive enhancer. %+ Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina = Federal University of Santa Catarina [Florianópolis] (UFSC) %+ Universidad Nacional de Córdoba [Argentina] %+ Institut Pasteur de Montevideo %+ Centre de Psychiatrie et Neurosciences (U894) %+ Pharmacologie de la circulation cérébrale (EA 4475) %A Ghisoni, Karina %A Aguiar Jr, Aderbal S. %A de Oliveira, Paulo Alexandre %A Matheus, Filipe Carvalho %A Gabach, Laura %A Perez, Mariela %A Carlini, Valeria P %A Barbeito, Luis %A Mongeau, Raymond %A Lanfumey, Laurence %A Prediger, Rui Daniel %A Latini, Alexandra %Z This work was supported by grants from CNPq (Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico, Brazil, 479222/2013-4), CAPES (Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior, Brazil, PVE: 004_2013 and 88881.062164/2014-01, INCT 189405 16/2014), FAPESC/CNPq (Programa de Apoio a Núcleos de Excelência PRONEX; NENASC Project), SECyT/UNC (Secretaría de Ciencia y Técnica de la Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Argentina), FonCyT (Fondo para la Investigación Científica y Tecnológica, Argentina) and CONICET (Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Argentina). Latini A and Prediger R are CNPq fellows (311451/2013-6) %< avec comité de lecture %@ 0889-1591 %J Brain, Behavior, and Immunity %I Elsevier %V 56 %P 156-64 %8 2016-08 %D 2016 %R 10.1016/j.bbi.2016.02.019 %M 26916218 %K Learning and memory %K Neopterin %K Neuroinflammation %Z Life Sciences [q-bio] %Z Life Sciences [q-bio]/Cellular Biology %Z Life Sciences [q-bio]/Neurons and Cognition [q-bio.NC]/NeurobiologyJournal articles %X Neopterin is found at increased levels in biological fluids from individuals with inflammatory disorders. The biological role of this pteridine remains undefined; however, due to its capacity to increase hemeoxygenase-1 content, it has been proposed as a protective agent during cellular stress. Therefore, we investigated the effects of neopterin on motor, emotional and memory functions. To address this question, neopterin (0.4 and/or 4pmol) was injected intracerebroventricularly before or after the training sessions of step-down inhibitory avoidance and fear conditioning tasks, respectively. Memory-related behaviors were assessed in Swiss and C57BL/6 mice, as well as in Wistar rats. Moreover, the putative effects of neopterin on motor and anxiety-related parameters were addressed in the open field and elevated plus-maze tasks. The effects of neopterin on cognitive performance were also investigated after intraperitoneal lipopolysaccharide (LPS) administration (0.33mg/kg) in interleukin-10 knockout mice (IL-10(-/-)). It was consistently observed across rodent species that neopterin facilitated aversive memory acquisition by increasing the latency to step-down in the inhibitory avoidance task. This effect was related to a reduced threshold to generate the hippocampal long-term potentiation (LTP) process, and reduced IL-6 brain levels after the LPS challenge. However, neopterin administration after acquisition did not alter the consolidation of fear memories, neither motor nor anxiety-related parameters. Altogether, neopterin facilitated cognitive processes, probably by inducing an antioxidant/anti-inflammatory state, and by facilitating LTP generation. To our knowledge, this is the first evidence showing the cognitive enhancer property of neopterin. %G English %L pasteur-01498349 %U https://riip.hal.science/pasteur-01498349 %~ UNIV-PARIS5 %~ RIIP %~ RIIP_MONTEVIDEO %~ USPC %~ UNIV-PARIS %~ UP-SANTE