Effect of Coadministration of Memantine and Folic Acid on Spatial Learning and Memory in Adult Male Rats

Background: Memantine (MEM) is an NMDA receptor antagonist and one of the drugs approved for the treatment of Alzheimer's patients. In some previous studies, folic acid, or vitamin B9, which is also a water-soluble vitamin, has been demonstrated to improve cognitive disorders. The present study aimed to assess the effect of memantine and its combined administration with folic acid on learning and spatial memory in adult male rats. Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, male Wistar rats were randomly assigned to six groups of 7: control, solvent (saline), memantine mg/kg; (i.p.) 10,5,3 (MEM and 10 mg/kg MEM - 15 mg/kg FA. Folic acid treatment was performed for seven days, starting two days before training, and memantine treatment for five days and 30 minutes before training. The rats were trained for five days with a Y-shaped maze device. Following that, 24 days after the training, a memory recall test was performed to evaluate long-term memory. Data analysis was performed using SPSS software (version 16). Results: Based on the results of this study, the comparison between the 5 mg/kg MEM (p˂0.05) and 10 mg/kg MEM (p˂0.001) groups with the control group pointed to a significant decrease in learning and spatial memory. A significant increase was detected in learning and spatial memory in the group of 10 mg/kg MEM - 15 mg/kg FA compared to the group that received 10 mg/kg MEM (P˂0.05). Moreover, in this study, the memory recall test results on the 30th day illustrated a significant decrease in learning and spatial memory compared to the 5th day of training in the groups of 10 mg/kg MEM and 10 MEM - 15 mg/kg FA (P˂0.05) Conclusion: As evidenced by the results of this study, a dose-dependent decrease was observed in learning and spatial memory in the Y-shaped maze test in rats treated with memantine. In addition, in the administration of memantine and folic acid, a marked improvement was detected in learning disorder and spatial memory caused by memantine in adult male rats.