... neurotransmitter. In sufficiently high amounts, apparently more related to the concentration in the cytoplasmic pool, 6-OHDA generates highly reactive products, suggested to be peroxides, superoxides, hydroxyindoles, and quinones. ...
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Research Interests: Animal Behavior, Behavior, Dopamine, Pregnancy, Vitamin D receptor, and 8 moreFemale, Animals, Neurons, Motion, Rats, Rat, Brain Chemistry, and Corpus striatum
It is well known that the release of melanocyte-stimulating hormone (MSH) from the pituitary gland is mainly controlled by an inhibitory influence from the hypothalamus. In addition to this inhibitory control, there may also be a... more
It is well known that the release of melanocyte-stimulating hormone (MSH) from the pituitary gland is mainly controlled by an inhibitory influence from the hypothalamus. In addition to this inhibitory control, there may also be a stimulatory influence. Most, but by no means all, of the evidence is compatible with the possibility that inhibition is mediated by dopaminergic and/or alpha-adrenergic receptors. Gamma-aminobutyric acid also has been shown to have an inhibitory role in some studies. beta-Adrenergic receptors, serotonin, and acetylcholine may be involved in the stimulation of MSH release. Interaction of hypothalamic peptides like Pro-Leu-Gly-NH2(MIF-I) with biogenic amines, however, has not been excluded as a factor in the control of the release of MSH from the pituitary. Just as the evidence for the involvement of amines in the control of MSH release is somewhat puzzling and contradictory, conflicting evidence concerning their involvement in mediating the specific effects of MSH and MIF-I on the CNS remains unresolved.
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The object of the current study was to determine the effect of L: -3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (L: -DOPA) on the in vivo striatal microdialysate levels of the respective dopamine and serotonin metabolites 3,4-dihydroxyphenlalanine (DOPAC)... more
The object of the current study was to determine the effect of L: -3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (L: -DOPA) on the in vivo striatal microdialysate levels of the respective dopamine and serotonin metabolites 3,4-dihydroxyphenlalanine (DOPAC) and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) and hydroxyl radical level (HO(*); 2,3- and 2,5-dihydroxybenzoic acid, 2,3- and 2,5-DHBA) in adult rats made parkinsonian by treatment at 3 days after birth with the neurotoxin 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA; 66.7 microg, base form, on each side; desipramine pretreatment, 1 h). Using HPLC/ED we found that in 6-OHDA-lesioned rats the basal striatal extraneuronal level of DOPAC was dramatically reduced and constituted only approximately 4.5% of referenced value (intact rats). Conversely, the striatal microdialysate level of 5-HIAA was elevated 2-fold in 6-OHDA-lesioned rats. Acute L: -DOPA (60 mg/kg i.p.; S-carbidopa pretreatment, 12.5 mg/kg i.p., 30 min) produced a rapid rise in the extraneuronal DOPAC in both tested groups but to a much greater extent in intact rats (P < 0.05). Levels of HO(*) (spin-trap products of salicylate, 2,3- and 2,5-DHBA) were elevated 2-fold in 6-OHDA-lesioned rats. However, L: -DOPA did not enhance HO(*) production; acute 6-OHDOPA treatment (60 mg/kg i.p.) also did not alter HO(*) production. In summary, L: -DOPA, an effective drug in ameliorating PD symptoms, did not acutely pose a risk for HO(*) generation in parkinsonian rats. We conclude that L: -DOPA is not likely to generate reactive oxygen species in humans nor is L: -DOPA likely to accelerate PD in humans.
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The prevailing utility, and indeed necessity, of clinical staging models applied in considerations of neuropsychiatric disease progressions is discussed from the perspectives of schizophrenia spectrum disorders and affective disorders,... more
The prevailing utility, and indeed necessity, of clinical staging models applied in considerations of neuropsychiatric disease progressions is discussed from the perspectives of schizophrenia spectrum disorders and affective disorders, cannabis in schizopsychotic disorder, incidences of affect and psychosis, staging disorders in aging and the indices and prevalence of apathy. There would appear to be a strong current consensus that the pursuit of clinical staging of these and other brain disease states has contributed a systematic conceptual instrument to facilitate the better understanding, diagnosis, prognosis and treatment as derived from a multitude of genetic predispositions, symptoms and syndromes, early-onset and prodromal phases, recurrences and relapses, that have complicated the situation of the patient. Through a staging determination of the disorder, elements of diagnosis will describe the progression of symptoms/syndromes through pre-onset, prodromal, first-episode, recurrences and relapses, and treatment resistance thereby facilitating the eventual prognosis, intervention alternatives and treatment. This approach varies from observations of individuals at early stages of development (infancy, childhood, adolescece) to early middle age, in the case of diseases expressed through the aging processes. Essentially, the major contribution of the staging model may lie in the early identification, diagnosis, and treatments of disorders that afflict the brain and central nervous system.
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To examine the effect of a central noradrenergic lesion on the reactivity of the 5-HT(1B) receptor we compared intact male rats with rats in which noradrenergic nerve terminals were largely destroyed with the neurotoxin DSP-4 (50 mg/kg x... more
To examine the effect of a central noradrenergic lesion on the reactivity of the 5-HT(1B) receptor we compared intact male rats with rats in which noradrenergic nerve terminals were largely destroyed with the neurotoxin DSP-4 (50 mg/kg x 2, on the 1st and 3rd days of postnatal life). When rats attained 10 weeks of age, control and DSP-4 rats were divided into two subgroups receiving either saline or the serotonin (5-HT) synthesis inhibitor (p-chlorophenylalanine; p-CPA; 100 mg/kg). Employing an elevated plus maze test, we demonstrated that CP 94,253 (5-propoxy-3-(1,2,3,6-tetrahydro-4-pyridinyl)-1H-pyrrolo[3,2-b]pyridine hydrochloride) (4.0 mg/kg; 5-HT(1B) agonist) induced an anxiogenic-like action in control rats; however, it failed to elicit this effect in the DSP-4 group. Surprisingly, in p-CPA pretreated rats anxiogenic-like activity was observed both in control and DSP-4 treated rats. CP 94,253 significantly attenuated 5-HT synthesis in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) of control rats, and SB 216641 (N-{3-[3-(dimethylamino)ethoxy]-4-methoxyphenyl}-2'-methyl-4'-(5-methyl-1,2,4-oxadiazol-3-yl)-[1,1'-biphenyl]-4-carboxamide hydrochloride) (4.0 mg/kg; 5-HT(1B) antagonist) was able to antagonize this effect. Conversely, CP 94,253 failed to significantly inhibit the 5-HT synthesis rate in DSP-4-treated rats. In the microdialysis study CP 94,253 induced long-lasting attenuation of 5-HT release in the mPFC of control rats but had no effect in DSP-4 rats. These data lead to the proposal that presynaptic 5-HT(1B) autoreceptors underwent desensitization in DSP-4 treated rats.
Research Interests: Prefrontal Cortex, Animals, Male, Neurotoxins, HT, and 6 moreMicrodialysis, Rats, Pyridines, Wistar Rats, Maze Learning, and Benzamides
The aim of this study was to determine histamine content in the brain and the effect of histamine receptor antagonists on behavior of adult rats lesioned as neonates with the serotonin (5-HT) neurotoxin 5,7-dihydroxytryptamine (5,7-DHT).... more
The aim of this study was to determine histamine content in the brain and the effect of histamine receptor antagonists on behavior of adult rats lesioned as neonates with the serotonin (5-HT) neurotoxin 5,7-dihydroxytryptamine (5,7-DHT). At 3 days after birth Wistar rats were pretreated with desipramine (20 mg/kg ip) before bilateral icv administration of 5,7-DHT (37.5 μg base on each side) or saline-ascorbic (0.1%) vehicle (control). At 10 week levels of 5-HT and its metabolite 5-hydroxyindole acetic acid (5-HIAA) were determined in frontal cortex, striatum, and hippocampus by an HPLC/ED technique. In the hypothalamus, frontal cortex, hippocampus and medulla oblongata, the level of histamine was analyzed by an immunoenzymatic method. Behavioral observations (locomotion, exploratory-, oral-, and stereotyped activity) were performed, and effects of DA receptor agonists (SKF 38393, apomorphine) and histamine receptor antagonists S(+)chlorpheniramine (H(1)), cimetidine (H(2)), and thioperamide (H(3)) were determined. We confirmed that 5,7-DHT profoundly reduced contents of 5-HT and 5-HIAA in the brain in adulthood. Histamine content was also reduced in all examined brain regions. Moreover, in 5,7-DHT-lesioned rats the locomotor and oral activity responses to thioperamide were altered, and apomorphine-induced stereotype was intensified. From the above, we conclude that an intact central serotoninergic system modulates histamine H(3) receptor antagonist effects on the dopaminergic neurons in rats.
Research Interests: Behavior, Electrochemistry, Drug interactions, Enzyme Inhibitors, Serotonin, and 18 moreHistamine, Movement, Animals, Vehicle dynamic control, Neurotoxicity, Frontal Cortex, Clinical Sciences, High Pressure Liquid Chromatography, HT, Rats, Mouth, Wistar Rats, Acetic Acid, Neurosciences, Apomorphine, Biochemistry and cell biology, Motor activity, and Brain injuries
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Neurodevelopmental risk factors have assumed a critical role in prevailing notions concerning the etiopathogenesis of neuropsychiatric disorders. Staging, diagnostic elements at which phase of disease is determined, provides a means of... more
Neurodevelopmental risk factors have assumed a critical role in prevailing notions concerning the etiopathogenesis of neuropsychiatric disorders. Staging, diagnostic elements at which phase of disease is determined, provides a means of conceptualizing the degree and extent of factors affecting brain development trajectories, but is concurrently specified through the particular interactions of genes and environment unique to each individual case. For present purposes, staging perspectives in neurodevelopmental aspects of the disease processes are considered from conditions giving rise to neurodevelopmental staging in affective states, adolescence, dopamine disease states, and autism spectrum disorders. Three major aspects influencing the eventual course of individual developmental trajectories appear to possess an essential determinant influence upon outcome: (i) the type of agent that interferes with brain development, whether chemical, immune system activating or absent (anoxia/hypoxia), (ii) the phase of brain development at which the agent exerts disruption, whether prenatal, postnatal, or adolescent, and (iii) the age of expression of structural and functional abnormalities. Clinical staging may be assumed at any or each developmental phase. The present perspective offers both a challenge to bring further order to diagnosis, intervention, and prognosis and a statement regarding the extreme complexities and interwoven intricacies of epigenetic factors, biomarkers, and neurobehavioral entities that aggravate currents notions of the neuropsychiatric disorders.
Research Interests: Adolescent, Brain development, Dopamine, Brain, Pregnancy, and 16 moreHumans, Neuropsychiatry, Female, Animals, Neurotoxicity, Mental Disorders, Risk factors, Clinical Sciences, Spectrum, Immune system, Age Factors, Disease Progression, Risk Factors, Adolescent Behavior, Neurosciences, and Biochemistry and cell biology
Research Interests: Humans, Animals, Neurotoxicity, Protein Aggregation, Neurotoxins, and 12 moreNerve Regeneration, Clinical Sciences, Spectrum, Immune system, Nervous System, Alzheimer Disease, Environment, Neurosciences, Substance-Related Disorders, Substance Use Disorder, Biochemistry and cell biology, and Neuroprotective Agents
Research Interests: Physiology, Kinetics, Ontogeny, Animals, Peptides, and 5 moreDopamine Receptors, Rats, Rat, Reference Values, and Corpus striatum
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Glucose is the main source of energy for the central nervous system (CNS). In this study, we examined the effects of the psychostimulant amphetamine (AMPH) and the neuronal mediator nitric oxide (NO) on [3H]glucose uptake in the brain of... more
Glucose is the main source of energy for the central nervous system (CNS). In this study, we examined the effects of the psychostimulant amphetamine (AMPH) and the neuronal mediator nitric oxide (NO) on [3H]glucose uptake in the brain of adult rats that had been prenatally exposed to lead. Lead [Pb(CH3COO)2 . 3H2O; 250 ppm] was added to the drinking water of pregnant Wistar rats for the duration of pregnancy. On the day of parturition, lead was discontinued as an additive in the drinking water. Offspring remained ith dams for 21 days. The control group consisted of rats that consumed water without lead. In adulthood, male offspring from both groups (lead-exposed and control) were pretreated with 7-nitroindazole (nNOS blocking agent) (10.0 mg/kg ip) or saline (1.0 ml/kg ip), 30 min before AMPH (1.0 mg/kg ip). After another 30 min, and 15 min before termination, all rats were injected with 6-[3H]-D-glucose (500 muCi/kg ip). Brain specimens were taken (striatum, frontal cortex, hippocampus, and thalamus with hypothalamus, and pons with medulla oblongata) for determination of radioactivity in a liquid scintillation counter. We found that lead did not alter [3H]glucose uptake in brain regions studied (with exception of frontal cortex) but that AMPH increased [3H]glucose uptake in the striatum, frontal cortex and hippocampus, and that the AMPH effect was lessened in the hippocampus of lead-exposed rats. Moreover, the AMPH effect on [3H]glucose uptake in the frontal cortex, hippocampus, thalamus with hypothalamus and pons of control rats was potentiated by 7-NI pretreatment. Similar effect was observed in lead-intoxicated rats (striatum, frontal cortex and hippocampus). These results indicate that NO modulates AMPH-induced [3H]glucose uptake in the brain of rats prenatally exposed to lead.
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Trimetazidine, a clinically effective antianginal agent with no negative inotropic or vascular properties, acts by optimizing cardiac energy metabolism through inhibition of free fatty acid oxidation, shifting substrate utilization from... more
Trimetazidine, a clinically effective antianginal agent with no negative inotropic or vascular properties, acts by optimizing cardiac energy metabolism through inhibition of free fatty acid oxidation, shifting substrate utilization from fatty acids to glucose. Up to now there has been no study associating trimetazidine's effect on metabolic processes with glucose utilization in the mammalian brain. The objective of the present study was to determine if trimetazidine altered [(3)H]glucose uptake in rat brain. Adult male Wistar rats were administered trimetazidine (Metazydyna, Polfa) either as a single dose (10.0 mg/kg po) or for 14 consecutive days (5.0 mg/kg po per day) or vehicle saline (2.0 ml/kg po). Sixty minutes after the single dose or 14th dose of trimetazidine, and 15 min before experiment termination and brain dissection, 6-[(3)H]D-glucose (500 Ci/kg ip; Amersham) was administered. Using liquid scintillation counting, trimetazidine, either in a single or multiple dose regimen, was found to increase [(3)H]glucose uptake (DPM/100 mg of wet tissue) in all dissected regions of the brain (i.e., striatum, hippocampus, frontal cortex, thalamus with hypothalamus, pons with medulla oblongata, and cerebellum). Therefore, central effects need to be taken into consideration as possibly adding to known beneficial cardiac effects of trimetazidine.
Research Interests: Brain, Glucose, Animals, Male, Rats, and 5 moreTime Factors, Tritium, Wistar Rats, Pharmacological, and Trimetazidine
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Research Interests: Schizophrenia, Neurogenesis, Risk assessment, Neurocognition, Humans, and 16 moreVitamin D receptor, Animals, Neurotoxicity, Central Nervous System, Synaptic Transmission, Risk factors, Clinical Sciences, Spectrum, Functional integration, Biological markers, Risk Factors, Risk Assessment, Neural pathways, Neurosciences, Cognition disorders, and Biochemistry and cell biology
Enhanced oral activity is induced in neonatal 6-hydroxydopamine- (6-OHDA-) lesioned rats by systemic administration of the dopamine (DA) D1 receptor agonist SKF 38393 and serotonin (5-HT) 5-HT2A,2C agonist m-chlorophenylpiperazine... more
Enhanced oral activity is induced in neonatal 6-hydroxydopamine- (6-OHDA-) lesioned rats by systemic administration of the dopamine (DA) D1 receptor agonist SKF 38393 and serotonin (5-HT) 5-HT2A,2C agonist m-chlorophenylpiperazine (m-CPP). The DA D1 receptor antagonist SCH 23390 effectively attenuates the effect of SKF 38393 but not m-CPP. The 5-HT2 antagonist mianserin attenuates the effects of both m-CPP and SKF 38393, suggesting that DA agonist effects are mediated by 5-HT neurochemical systems. To test whether DA and 5-HT agonist effects and interactions might occur within the neostriatum, rats were implanted with permanent injection cannulae, with tips in the ventral striatum. One group of rats was lesioned at 3 days after birth with 6-OHDA HBr (100 micrograms salt form, in each lateral ventricle; desipramine HCl pretreatment, 20 mg/kg IP, base form, 1 h), while controls received the vehicle in place of 6-OHDA. Cannulae were implanted when rats weighed 200-250 g. During a 1-h observation session SKF 38393 (5 nmol per side) produced 74.3 +/- 19.2 oral movements in intact rats and 310.7 +/- 97.0 oral movements in 6-OHDA-lesioned rats. m-CPP (10 nmol per side) produced 72.6 +/- 15.1 and 274.5 +/- 65.0 oral movements in these respective groups. These responses were several-fold greater than the 25.3 +/- 7.3 and 41.8 +/- 9.5 oral movements in the same groups after saline (0.5 microliter per side) (P < 0.05). Mianserin (6 nmol per side) alone had no effect on oral activity but attenuated responses to both SKF 38393 and m-CPP in intact and 6-OHDA-lesioned rats.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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Research Interests: Decision Making, Consciousness, Adolescent, Linear models, Molecular Mechanics, and 20 moreHumans, Child, Negative Affect, Locus of Control, Female, Male, Neurotoxicity, Young Adult, Expression, Clinical Sciences, Positive Affect, Adult, Linear Regression, Substrates, Conscious, Neurosciences, Biochemistry and cell biology, Brain Diseases, Behavioral symptoms, and Impulsive behavior
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Rats lesioned shortly after birth with 6-hydroxydopamine are posed as a near-ideal model of severe Parkinson's disease, because of the non-lethality of the procedure, near-total destruction of nigrostriatal dopaminergic... more
Rats lesioned shortly after birth with 6-hydroxydopamine are posed as a near-ideal model of severe Parkinson's disease, because of the non-lethality of the procedure, near-total destruction of nigrostriatal dopaminergic fibers, near-total dopamine (DA)-denervation of striatum, reproducibility of effect, and relative absence of overt behavioral effects--there is no aphasia, no adipsia, and no change in motor activity. In vivo microdialysis findings reinforce the utility of the animal model, clearly demonstrating L-DOPA beneficial actions without an increase in hydroxyl radical production.
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Research Interests: Animal Behavior, Behavior, Brain, Animals, Male, and 6 moreLevodopa, Haloperidol, Rats, Wistar Rats, Biogenic amines, and Clozapine
As a first attempt at exploring an association between histaminergic and serotoninergic neuronal phenotypes in glucose regulation, the influence of the histamine H3 receptor antagonist thioperamide on glucose uptake by brain was... more
As a first attempt at exploring an association between histaminergic and serotoninergic neuronal phenotypes in glucose regulation, the influence of the histamine H3 receptor antagonist thioperamide on glucose uptake by brain was determined in rats in which the serotoninergic innervations of brain was largely destroyed perinatally. Male Wistar rats were initially treated on the 3rd day after birth with the serotoninergic
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5-HT(2A/2C) receptors are one of the most important in controlling basal ganglia outputs. In rodent models of Parkinson's disease (PD) blockade of these receptors increases locomotion and enhances the actions of dopamine... more
5-HT(2A/2C) receptors are one of the most important in controlling basal ganglia outputs. In rodent models of Parkinson's disease (PD) blockade of these receptors increases locomotion and enhances the actions of dopamine (DA) replacement therapy. Moreover, previously we established that 5-HT(2A/2C) antagonist attenuate DA D(1) agonist mediated vacuous chewing movements (VCMs) which are considered as an animal representation of human dyskinesia. These findings implicate 5-HT neuronal phenotypes in basal ganglia pathology, and promote 5-HT(2) antagonists as a rational treatment approach for dyskinesia that is prominent in most instances of PD replacement therapy. In the current study we determined whether ketanserin (KET) and/or amphetamine (AMPH) affected dopaminergic neurotranssmision in intact and fully DA-denervated rats. Moreover, we looked into extraneuronal content of HO. of the neostriatum after AMPH and/or KET injection, assessed by HPLC analysis of dihydroxybenzoic acids (2,3- and 2, 5-DHBA) - spin trap products of salicylate. Findings from the present study demonstrated that there are no substantial differences in extraneuronal HO. generation in the neostriatum between control and parkinsonian rats. KET did not affect DA release in the fully DA-denervated rat's neostriatum and also did not enhance HO. production. As 5-HT(2A/2C) receptor-mediated transmission might prove usefulness not only in addressing motor complications of PD patients (dyskinesia) but also in addressing non-motor problems such depression and/or L-DOPA evoked psychosis, the findings from the current study showed that the use of 5-HT(2A/2C) receptor antagonists in Parkinson's disease does not impend the neostriatal neuropil to be damaged by these drugs. We concluded that 5-HT(2A/2C) receptor antagonists may provide an attractive non-dopaminergic target for improving therapies for some basal ganglia disorders.
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Research Interests: Schizophrenia, Cognition, Working Memory, Adolescent, Executive Function, and 20 moreEmotions, Memory, Affect, Humans, Child, Personality Assessment Inventory, Locus of Control, Female, Male, Neurotoxicity, Mental Disorders, Clinical Sciences, NMDA, Aged, Middle Aged, Adult, Age Factors, Neurosciences, Biochemistry and cell biology, and Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex
Research Interests: Personality, Schizophrenia, Treatment, Comorbidity, Movement disorders, and 14 moreHumans, Substance Abuse, Neuropsychiatry, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Neurotoxicity, Mental Disorders, Clinical Sciences, Prevalence, Affective, Iatrogenic Disease, Neurosciences, Nervous System Diseases, Biochemistry and cell biology, and Impulsive behavior
Research Interests: Neurology, Psychiatry, Schizophrenia, Polymorphism, Comorbidity, and 15 moreHumans, Child, Substance Abuse, Neurotoxicity, Dissociative disorders, Genes, Clinical Sciences, Mood Disorders, Spectrum, Genetic variation, Psychotic Disorders, MAOA, Environment, Neurosciences, and Biochemistry and cell biology
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L-Dihydroxyphenylalanine (L: -DOPA), the anti-parkinsonian drug affording the greatest symptomatic relief of parkinsonian symptoms, is still misunderstood in terms of its neurotoxic potential and the mechanism by which generated dopamine... more
L-Dihydroxyphenylalanine (L: -DOPA), the anti-parkinsonian drug affording the greatest symptomatic relief of parkinsonian symptoms, is still misunderstood in terms of its neurotoxic potential and the mechanism by which generated dopamine (DA) is able to exert an effect despite the absence of DA innervation of target sites in basal ganglia. This review summaries important aspects and new developments on these themes. On the basis of L: -DOPA therapy in animal models of Parkinson's disease, it appears that L: -DOPA is actually neuroprotective, not neurotoxic, as indicated by L: -DOPA's reducing striatal tissue content of the reactive oxygen species, hydroxyl radical (HO(*)), and by leaving unaltered the extraneuronal in vivo microdialysate level of HO(*). In addition, the potential beneficial anti-parkinsonian effect of L: -DOPA is actually increased because of the fact that the basal ganglia are largely DA-denervated. That is, from in vivo microdialysis studies it can be clearly demonstrated that extraneuronal in vivo microdialysate DA levels are actually higher in the DA-denervated vs. the intact striatum of rats - owing to the absence of DA transporter (i.e., uptake sites) on the absent DA nerve terminal fibers in parkinsonian brain. In essence, there are fewer pumps removing DA from the extraneuronal pool. Finally, the undesired motor dyskinesias that commonly accompany long-term L: -DOPA therapy, can be viewed as an outcome of L: -DOPA's sensitizing DA receptors (D(1)-D(5)), an effect easily replicated by repeated DA agonist treatments (especially agonist of the D(2) class) in animals, even if the brain is not DA-denervated. The newest findings demonstrate that L: -DOPA induces BDNF release from corticostriatal fibers, which in-turn enhances the expression of D(3) receptors; and that this effect is associated with motor dyskinesias (and it is blocked by D(3) antagonists). The recent evidence on mechanisms and effects of L: -DOPA increases our understanding of this beneficial anti-parkinsonian drug, and can lead to improvements in L: -DOPA effects while providing avenues for reducing or eliminating L: -DOPA's deleterious effects.
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The intracellular second messenger nitric oxide (NO) is implicated in a variety of physiological functions, including release and uptake of dopamine (DA). In the described study, in vivo microdialysis and differential pulse voltammetric... more
The intracellular second messenger nitric oxide (NO) is implicated in a variety of physiological functions, including release and uptake of dopamine (DA). In the described study, in vivo microdialysis and differential pulse voltammetric techniques were used to determine the involvement of NO in release of DA and its metabolites (dihydroxyphenylalanine, DOPAC; homovanillic acid, HVA) in neostriatum of freely moving rats. While the NO donor molsidomine (30.0 mg/kg; MOLS) and neuronal NO synthase- (nNOS-) inhbitor 7-nitroindazole (10.0 mg/kg; 7-NI) had no effect on the basal in vivo microdialysate level of DA, 7-NI specifically enhanced D,L-amphetamine-(1.0 mg/kg i.p.; AMPH) evoked release of DA. Basal or AMPH effects on DOPAC and HVA levels were not influenced by MOLS or 7-NI. Findings indicate that nitrergic systems have an important role in mediating effects of AMPH on dopaminergic systems.
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Nitric oxide (NO) in brain has been implicated in neuronal regulatory processes and in neuropathologies. Previously we showed that NO modified quinpirole-induced yawning, a behavioral measure of dopamine (DA) D3 receptor activation in... more
Nitric oxide (NO) in brain has been implicated in neuronal regulatory processes and in neuropathologies. Previously we showed that NO modified quinpirole-induced yawning, a behavioral measure of dopamine (DA) D3 receptor activation in rats. The aim of this study was to characterize the effect of nitro-L-arginine methyl ester HCl (NAME) and L-arginine HCl on reactivity of rats to the DA D1 receptor agonist SKF 38393 and DA D1 antagonist SCH 23390 in intact and neonatal 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA)-lesioned rats (134 micrograms of base ICV at 3rd day after birth). L-arginine HCl (300 mg/kg i.p.) increased the oral activity response in 6-OHDA-lesioned rats, like SKF 38393, and induced catalepsy in intact control rats, like SCH 23390. In contrast, NAME had no effect on oral activity or catalepsy, but fully attenuated SKF 38393-induced oral activity. These findings indicate that L-arginine HCl has no apparent effect at the DA D1 receptor, but that NAME is effective in attenuating a DA D1 a...
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To determine whether behavioral sensitization produced by prolonged D-amphetamine administration affects susceptibility of nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurons to the neurotoxic actions of 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA), rats were treated daily... more
To determine whether behavioral sensitization produced by prolonged D-amphetamine administration affects susceptibility of nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurons to the neurotoxic actions of 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA), rats were treated daily from the 23 rd day after birth for 11 consecutive days with D-amphetamine (1.0 mg/kg s.c.) or saline. On the last day of treatment, one group primed with D-amphetamine and one control group of rats were tested to confirm behavioral sensitization development. The remaining animals were additionally treated on the 34 th day (one day after the last D-amphetamine injection) with 6-OHDA HBr (300 microg in 10 microl i.c.v., salt form, half in each lateral ventricle) or its vehicle. Four weeks later the levels of dopamine (DA) and its metabolites 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC), homovanillic acid (HVA), 3-metoxytyramine (3-MT), as well as 5-hydroxytrypatmine (5-HT) and its metabolite 5-hydroxyindoleacteic acid (5-HIAA) were assayed in the striatum,...
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Connexin43 (Cx43) is one of the most abundant gap junction proteins in the central nervous system. Abnormal opening of Cx43 hemichannels after ischemic insults causes apoptotic cell death. In this study, we found persistently increased... more
Connexin43 (Cx43) is one of the most abundant gap junction proteins in the central nervous system. Abnormal opening of Cx43 hemichannels after ischemic insults causes apoptotic cell death. In this study, we found persistently increased expression of Cx43 8 h to 7 d after hypoxia/ischemia (HI) injury in neonatal rats. Pre-treatment with Gap26 and Gap27, two Cx43 mimetic peptides, significantly reduced cerebral infarct volume. Gap26 treatment at 24 h after ischemia improved functional recovery on muscle strength, motor coordination, and spatial memory abilities. Further, Gap26 inhibited Cx43 expression and reduced active astrogliosis. Gap26 interacted and co-localized with Cx43 together in brain tissues and cultured astrocytes. After oxygen glucose deprivation, Gap26 treatment reduced the total Cx43 level in cultured astrocytes; but Cx43 level in the plasma membrane was increased. Degradation of Cx43 in the cytoplasm was mainly via the ubiquitin proteasome pathway. Concurrently, phosp...