The effect of the synthetic neuroprotective dipeptide noopept on glutamate release from rat brain cortex slices

The level of spontaneous and K+-stimulated release of endogenous glutamate was studied in experiments on slices of brain cortex of Wistar rats. Pronounced spontaneous release of the neuromediator and its increase under conditions of stimulation were registered by high-performance liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection. The effect of the nootropic and neuroprotective dipeptide Noopept (GVS-111) on release of glutamate was investigated. The peptide in concentrations of 10−5 and 10−6 M caused a statistically significant decrease in spontaneous and K+-stimulated glutamate release. This effect could be the basis of the neuroprotective action of the peptide, suggesting that further studies of Noopept as neuroprotector are very promising.