Effect of undernutrition and subsequent rehabilitation on brain 5-HT (serotonin) profile of developing newborn rats.

For littermate comparison, undernutrition in half of the pups of a litter was induced by 12h maternal deprivation from day 5 to day 18 postnatal. Subsequently, undernourished suckling rats were rehabilitated. Brain 5-HT concentrations and its turnover rate were measured on different days of age up to the period of 3 months. Brain 5-HT concentration was approximately half of the adult level at birth and increased progressively, except with a steep fall on day 18 postnatal, to the adult level by day 25 postnatal and thereafter it did not vary much on different days of age. Undernourished newborn rats showed significantly low level of brain 5-HT on day 9 and significantly higher concentrations on day 12 and 18 postnatal, whereas, rehabilitated rats showed comparable brain 5-HT concentrations with that of their nourished littermates. It is concluded that undernutrition had affected the brain 5-HT concentration and its turnover rate. Brain 5-HT concentration was low during early phase and was more during late phase of undernutrition. Rehabilitation of undernourished rats restored the brain 5-HT concentration similar to that of their nourished littermates.

Effect of undernutrition on morphine analgesia, haloperidol catalepsy and pentobarbitone sodium hypnosis in developing new born rats.

In the present study, half of the pups of a litter were undernourished by 12 h daily maternal deprivation from day 5 to day 18 postnatal and were subsequently nutritionally rehabilitated. Responses of CNS-acting drugs (morphine analgesia, pentobarbitone sodium hypnosis, haloperidol catalepsy) were studied at the age of day 9, 12 and 18 in maternally deprived and of day 25 in nutritionally rehabilitated new born rats as compared to that of their nourished littermates. The results showed that the response of these CNS-acting drugs was maximum at the age of day 9 postnatal and progressively decreased thereafter as the age of the animal advanced. The responses of these drugs in maternally deprived animals varied on different days of undernourishment as compared to that of their nourished littermates. The responses were significantly less in first half and were significantly more in second half period of undernourishment. The changes observed in the responses of these CNS-acting drugs were directly related to the changes observed in brain serotonin level in maternally deprived and nutritionally rehabilitated new born rats. The present findings suggest that the nature and degree of undernutrition imposed in suckling rats might only produce temporary effects on the response of CNS-actin drugs and on brain serotonin levels which is reversible if undernourished new born rats were nutritionally rehabilitated on an appropriate time of brain development.

Standardisation of evoked response, threshold reaction time and morphine doses for analgesia in newborn nourished and undernourished suckling rats to noxious stimulus.

In the present study, the different criterias to assess the analgesic response of morphine in newborn suckling rats on "Eddy's hot plate" were modified. Initially, the intensity of applied heat stimulus to evoke the "cut off response" was adjusted to 50 degrees C. Different reproducible characteristic cut off responses (running and turning on back or raising fore and hind paws alternately) were selected for newborn suckling rats of varying age groups. The results revealed that newborn suckling rats are highly sensitive to morphine. The doses of morphine needed for producing a reasonable degree of analgesia on body weight basis were 0.1 mg/kg for 9 days old rats and 1.0 mg/kg for 18 days old rats. This procedure seems to be of great value in studying the analgesic effect of a drug in newborn suckling rats.

Treatment of cholestasis and cholestatic disorders.

The future of therapy of chronic cholestatic disorders is bright given the large number of new drugs that are in the initial phases of study. UDCA is currently the mainstay of therapy.

5-fluorouracil (5-FU) induces the formation of giant cells and sloughing of seminiferous epithelium in the rat testis.

The chemotherapeutic agent, 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) has been widely used in the treatment of a variety of cancers. Its effect on the testis has not been substantially studied. Present study was conducted to evaluate the gonadotoxicity of 5-FU in male albino rats. Animals were injected with single dose of 5-FU (10, 50 and 100 mg/kg, i.p.) and sampled on 1, 3, 15 and 30 day post exposure. Animals were anaesthetised, testes were perfusion fixed by Bouin's fluid. Five micron thick paraffin sections were stained with haematoxylin and eosin. Slides were screened for the incidence of partially and extensively sloughed tubules. Data were analysed by Mann Whitney 'U' test. Only 100 mg/kg induced multinucleated cells on 3rd day. All doses of 5-FU induced sloughing of the seminiferous epithelium. Maximum number of partially sloughed tubules were seen on third day. Partial sloughing was not dose dependent except on 15th day. The extensive sloughing was dose dependent except on 30th day. The result indicates that all the doses of 5-FU tested in this study cause sloughing of epithelium and only 100 mg/kg induces the formation of giant cells on third day.