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The antinarcoleptic drug modafinil increases glutamate release in thalamic areas and hippocampus

1997; Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; Volume: 8; Issue: 13 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1097/00001756-199709080-00016

1473-558X

Luca Ferraro, Tiziana Antonelli, William T. O’Connor, Sergio Tanganelli, Francis A. Rambert, Kjell Fuxé,

Memory and Neural Mechanisms

THE antinarcoleptic drug modafinil [(diphenyl-methyl)sulfinyl-2-acetamide; Modiodal] dose-dependently inhibits the activity of GABA neurons in the cerebral cortex and in the nucleus accumbens, as well as in sleep-related brain areas such as the medial preoptic area and the posterior hypothalamus. This study examined the effects of modafinil (30–300 mg/kg, i.p.) on dialysate glutamate and GABA levels in the ventromedial (VMT) and ventrolateral (VLT) thalamus and hippocampal formation (Hip) of the awake rat. The results show a maximal increase in glutamate release in these brain regions at the 100 mg/kg dose, associated with a lack of effect on GABA release. Thus modafinil may increase excitatory glutamatergic transmission in these regions, altering the balance between glutamate and GABA transmission.