Histamine H1 receptor involvement in prepulse inhibition and memory function: Relevance for the antipsychotic actions of clozapine

Histamine H1 blockade is one of the more prominent actions of the multi-receptor acting antipsychotic clozapine. It is currently not known how much this H1 antagonism of clozapine contributes to the therapeutic or adverse side effects of clozapine. The current studies with Sprague-Dawley rats were conducted to determine the participation of histaminergic H1 receptor subtype in sensorimotor plasticity and memory function affected by clozapine using tests of prepulse inhibition (PPI) and radial-arm maze choice accuracy. The PPI impairment caused by the glutamate antagonist dizocilpine (MK-801) was significantly attenuated by clozapine. In the current project, we found that the selective H1 antagonist pyrilamine also reversed the dizocilpine-induced impairment in PPI of tactile startle with an auditory prepulse. In the radial-arm maze (RAM), pyrilamine, like clozapine, impaired working memory and caused a significant dose-related slowing of response. Pyrilamine, however, decreased the number of reference memory errors. We have previously shown that nicotine effectively attenuates the clozapine-induced working memory impairment, but in the current study, nicotine did not significantly alter the effects of pyrilamine on the RAM. In summary, the therapeutic effect of clozapine in reversing PPI impairment was mimicked by the H1 antagonist pyrilamine, while pyrilamine had a mixed effect on cognition. Pyrilamine impaired working memory but improved reference memory in rats. Thus, H1 antagonism seems to play a role in part of the beneficial actions of antipsychotics, such as clozapine.