[A clinical-electroneuromyographic study of the efficacy of ipidacrine in patients with mononeuropathies].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of axamon (ipidacrine) therapy in patients with focal neuropathies--mononeuropathies. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We examined 35 patients, aged 18 years and older, with focal neuropathies (tunnel syndromes, radiculopathies). In the main group (n=20) axamon (ipidacrine) was prescribed in addition to the basic (standard) therapy (group B vitamins, lipoic acid) during 6 week, in the control group (n=15) patients remained only on the basic (standard) treatment. RESULTS: In the main group positive clinical changes were accompanied by the more significant positive electroneuromyographic (ENMG) dynamics as compared to the control group (the increased amplitude of M-response in the muscles of the hand and feet; increased nerve conduction velocity in the peripheral nerves as a manifestation of remyelination activity, and others). CONCLUSION: The obtained clinical and ENMG data indicate that axamon (ipidacrine) is a unique cholinesterase inhibitor with conduction action primarily targeting on efferent (motor) fibers of the peripheral nerves.

Effects of tenoten on anxiety and depression disorders in patients with epilepsy.

The efficiency and safety of tenoten for anxiety and depression disorders in epileptics has been demonstrated. The drug does not change the incidence and severity of epileptic episodes, does not deteriorate the course of the underlying disease, and can be well combined with anticonvulsants. The results indicate the efficiency of tenoten used to arrest the anxio-depressive disorders in epilepsy.

Blood-brain barrier unlocked.

The brain is protected by a physiological blood-brain barrier (BBB) against toxins and some metabolites circulating in the blood. At the same time, the BBB limits penetration into the brain of many neuroactive drugs. Efficient ways to increase BBB permeability for delivery of drugs of different chemical nature into the brain are unknown. This work deals with delivery into the brain of 10(-2) M dopamine, a substance that does not penetrate the BBB under normal circumstances. It was studied in two independent experiments: (i) penetration of (3)H-labeled dopamine from its mixture with 10(-5) M H2O2 into hypothalamus and striatum structures of intact rat brain, and (ii) effect of unlabeled dopamine from a mixture with H(2)O(2) on the rat motor activity in a haloperidol catalepsy model. It was shown that (i) at the third minute after nasal application of the dopamine + H(2)O(2) mixture, the dopamine level increases 45-fold in the hypothalamus and almost 30-fold in the striatum and (ii) motility of animals in the catalepsy haloperidol model is recovered 90 sec after intranasal introduction of dopamine. No such effects were observed after replacement of H(2)O(2) by 0.9% NaCl solution. Thus, it was shown on the example of dopamine that its introduction into the nasal cavity simultaneously with H(2)O(2) provides for rapid delivery of the drug into the brain. These results expand our knowledge concerning the biological role of exoROS in modulating BBB permeability and may contribute to the development of a new therapeutic strategy for neurological diseases.

Changes in the levels of inhibitory and excitatory amino acids in the brain structures of female rats with cobalt epileptogenic focus during different phases of the estrous cycle.

We studied changes in the levels of inhibitory and excitatory neurotransmitters in female rat brain structures during different phases of the estrous cycle in health and after creation of a cobalt epileptogenic focus at stage I of epileptogenic system development. The most pronounced shifts were found in the contralateral cortex, where the levels of GABA and glycine decreased significantly during the diestrus-2 phase (corresponding to menstruation), which attests to a convulsive threshold decrease during this period.

Effect of nooglutil on benzodiazepine withdrawal syndrome and binding of 3H-spiperone with D2 receptors in rat striatum.

A new nootropic preparation nooglutil (N-(5-oxynicotinoyl)-L-glutamic acid), a positive modulator of AMPA receptors for glutamate, administered intraperitoneally in a dose of 70 mg/kg reduced anxiety of rats in the Vogel conflict test after 24-h withdrawal from chronic diazepam treatment (4 mg/kg intraperitoneally for 45 days). Nooglutil (5 nM-750 microM) had no effect on in vitro binding of (3)H-spiperone in intact rats. Systemic administration of 50 mg/kg nooglutil in vivo increased the dissociation constant and density of D(2)receptors. Increasing the dose to 100 mg/kg abolished this effect. Our findings suggest that nooglutil produces an indirect effect on the brain dopaminergic system under normal and pathological conditions and this effect is probably mediated via the glutamatergic system.