Assessment of the Role of Datumetine NMDA Receptor in Schizophrenia

The N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) hypofunction is implicated in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia and datumetine is reported to enhance NMDAR activity. This study was aimed at assessing the therapeutic potential of datumetine and NMDAR interaction in pharmacological model of schizophrenia in mice. Thirty adult male mice were used for the study; they were randomly divided into three of ten mice each. 1 mg/kg body weight of MK-801 were administered to 20 mice for 14 days to induce schizophrenia subsequently 0.1 mg/kg body weight of datumetine were administered to 10 schizophrenic mice for 3 days, while control mice were given 0.1 mL of Dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO). Mice were then assessed on novel object recognition test, one-trial place recognition test and Y-maze to evaluate memory. Sociability test to assess social interaction and elevated plus maze to assess anxiety. Comparison of means was carried out using the One-Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) while the Tukey posthoc test was used for multiple comparison. All analysis were carried out at probability level of p<0.05. Datumetine significantly increased sociability and social novelty indices than schizophrenic mice but not control. Open arm duration was significantly reduced while open arm entries was significantly increased in datumetine exposed mice than schizophrenic mice. While memory indices were significantly reduced in datumetine mice compared to control and schizophrenic mice. This study concluded that datumetine reversed schizophrenic symptoms but not memory.