Effect on Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is a chronic and severe mental disorder characterized by impaired thinking skills, disorganized behavior, and loss of attachment to reality. There is increasing evidence that agmatine administration has beneficial effects on this mental condition.

A study by Unal et al. found that agmatine treatment improves cognitive deficits and increases socialization in rats with negative and cognitive symptoms of schizophrenia.[10] In this study, researchers administered MK-801, a substance that is known to cause schizophrenia-like behaviors in rats. On day 14, rats received agmatine injections and others were grouped as the control. In order to assess the benefits of agmatine on schizophrenia-like behaviors, social interaction test and novel object recognition test were performed. Researchers observed that agmatine-treated rats displayed increased social interaction and time spent exploring new objects than the familiar objects, compared to the control group. These results suggest that agmatine treatment can improve cognitive deficits and increase socialization in rats with schizophrenia-like behaviors.

Effect on Diabetes

Diabetes can lead to nerve damage, which ultimately affects pain sensation. There is evidence that agmatine may help suppress increased sensitivity to pain caused by non-painful stimuli in diabetic rats.

A study by Courteix et al. investigated the effects of agmatine injection in diabetic rats with impaired pain sensation.[11] In this study, agmatine-treated diabetic rats have undergone paw pressure test. This test involves an application of a uniformly increasing mechanical pressure on the animal paw, leading to an escape reaction. Researchers observed that the diabetic rat subjects treated with agmatine displayed an increased pain threshold, indicating that the treatment was able to suppress increased pain sensitivity associated with diabetes.

Effect on Alzheimer’s Disease

Alzheimer’s disease results in memory impairment and death of neurons in the brain.[12] Evidence suggests that agmatine does have neuroprotective effects which can help improve cognitive decline associated with this disease.[13]

A study by Song et al. found that agmatine improves cognitive dysfunction and prevents cell death in a streptozotocin-induced Alzheimer rat model.[14] In this study, rats were given anesthesia followed by a single injection of streptozotocin to induce pathological and behavioral alterations similar to those observed in Alzheimer’s disease. Rats were then injected with agmatine (100 mg/kg) daily up to two weeks and others were grouped as the control. In order to assess the beneficial effects of agmatine, the Morris water maze was performed. Researchers observed that the agmatine-treated rats were more likely to escape from the large circular pool of water through a hidden platform in the maze compared to the control group. Furthermore, when the researchers examined the brains of the agmatine-treated rats using the Western blot test, they found that agmatine was able to suppress the accumulation of amyloid beta (the causative agent of Alzheimer’s disease).