A scavenger of peroxynitrite prevents long-term memory formation using a single trial passive avoidance task for the day-old chick

The important role of nitric oxide (NO) in memory processing has been recognised for some time. However, the mechanisms through which NO may act are only partially understood. One highly reactive radical brought about by the reaction of NO and superoxide ions is peroxynitrite. The current study investigated the effect of peroxynitrite scavenging on retention for a single trial passive avoidance task developed for the day-old chick. Administration of a range of concentrations of the peroxynitrite scavenger Trolox (0.1 μM-1.2 mM) yielded a bimodal retention curve. This dose-response curve had nadirs at 300 and 800 μM. A time of administration study was conducted for each optimal concentration of Trolox and in both studies, the effective range of administration times extended from at least 10 min before training to 20 min post-training. Finally, a retention function was conducted for each optimum concentration of Trolox and in both studies a persistent retention loss was observed from 40 min post-training until the conclusion of the experiment 24 h post-training. The findings suggest that physiological levels of peroxynitrite may be required for the consolidation of long-term memory in this model of memory formation. Interestingly, the effective times of administration and time of retention loss onset are consistent with previous studies which blocked NO synthesis. Therefore it may be suggested that NO acts to facilitate long-term memory formation through the production of peroxynitrite.