Meteoritic Evidence for a Ceres-sized Water-rich Carbonaceous Chondrite Parent Asteroid.

Carbonaceous chondrite meteorites record the earliest stages of Solar System geo-logical activities and provide insight into their parent bodies' histories. Some carbonaceous chondrites are volumetrically dominated by hydrated minerals, providing evidence for low temperature and pressure aqueous alteration1. Others are dominated by anhydrous minerals and textures that indicate high temperature metamorphism in the absence of aqueous fluids1. Evidence of hydrous metamorphism at intermediate pressures and temperatures in carbonaceous chondrite parent bodies has been virtually absent. Here we show that an ungrouped, aqueously altered carbonaceous chondrite fragment (numbered 202) from the Almahata Sitta (AhS) meteorite contains an assemblage of minerals, including amphibole, that reflect fluid-assisted metamorphism at intermediate temperatures and pressures on the parent asteroid. Amphiboles are rare in carbonaceous chondrites, having only been identified previously as a trace component in Allende (CV3oxA) chondrules2. Formation of these minerals requires prolonged metamorphism in a large (~640-1800 km diameter), unknown asteroid. Because Allende and AhS 202 represent different asteroidal parent bodies, intermediate conditions may have been more widespread in the early Solar System than recognized from known carbonaceous chondrite meteorites, which are likely a biased sampling.

Increased REM sleep in rats selectively bred for cholinergic hyperactivity.

We have examined the sleep profile of the Flinders Sensitive Line (FSL) of rats, which were selectively bred for supersensitive responsivity to an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor (DFP). These animals have an increased density of muscarinic receptors in striatum and hippocampus and display a number of behavioral and neuroendocrine characteristics that may represent a rodent analogue of clinical depression. A continuous 48-hour sleep EEG recording was obtained. Compared to control rats (the Flinders Resistant Line), the FSL rats had selectively more rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep as a percentage of total sleep time. In addition, the REM sleep latency was significantly shorter and the REM-REM cycle length was significantly faster in the FSL than in the FRL strain. The two strains did not differ in total sleep time, drowsy sleep, or slow-wave sleep. The increased REM sleep in the FSL rats is consistent with the amassed evidence that cholinergic mechanisms selectively promote REM sleep, and suggests that the FSL rats may be useful in understanding the mechanism responsible for short REM latency in depression and narcolepsy.

Biochemical and functional effects of fenfluramine in maturing mice.

Biochemical and functional effects of a single dose of fenfluramine were studied in maturing mice aged 1 day or 1, 2 or 6 weeks postpartum. 5-HT and 5-HIAA stores in hemispheres and brain stem were significantly reduced at all ages 1 day after the drug injection. In contrast to adult animals which showed continuing reductions in 5-HT and 5-HIAA 4 weeks after the fenfluramine injection, animals at all younger ages returned to normal by 1 week after the injection. Body weight was reduced 2-4 weeks after fenfluramine injection in 1 week old animals; however 2 week animals showed only a small transient reduction during the first week following fenfluramine. No significant effects were found on body temperature or temperature preference. The results are discussed in relation to the effects of various amine depleting agents.

Effect of lithium on reproduction and postnatal growth of mice.

Mating pairs of mice were maintained continuously on drinking water containing 50 mEq/l LiCl and its effects on reproduction and postnatal development were monitored. In mating pairs put on lithium at 6-8 weeks of age, the lithium does not appear to reduce litter size at birth but it does increase postnatal mortality and the length of time between litters, and reduces the total number of litters a mating pair may have. In mating pairs put on lithium at 3 weeks of age, it severely delays postnatal growth and development of all pups in the litter. With the exception of the liver, this delayed growth and development does not appear to affect internal organs as severely as somatic body parts. This delayed growth may be the result of some effect lithium may have on certain hormones such as prolactin, thyroxine and growth hormone.

The effects of the specific uptake inhibitor Lu 10-171 (citalopram) upon brain indoleamine stores in the maturing mouse.

1. The specific 5-HT uptake inhibitor Lu 10-171 (Citalopram) was used to test uptake inhibition and reduced turnover in maturing mouse brain. 2. All ages showed 5-hydroxyindole acetic acid (5-HIAA) elevation indicative of inhibition and reduced turnover. Enzymatic blockade in conjunction with Lu 10-171 supported the evidence for reduced turnover. 3. The significance of early serotonergic maturation is discussed.

Measurement of body temperature in neonatal mice.

A simple method is described for obtaining repeated measurements of body temperature in young mice with minimal error introduced through stress. Temperatures are measured by an external thermocouple attached to the thorax in the region of the heart. A sling around the animal's thorax provides insulation for the thermocouple from surrounding air and mild restraint of the animal during measurement. Comparison with temperatures obtained in other locations indicates that external thoracic temperature as described gives a reliable estimate of true body temperature in mice up to 21 days old. Typical results with normal mice aged 1 day to 6 wk postpartum are included, together with a brief discussion of the technique's applicability.

Temperature responses and other effects of 5-hydroxytryptophan and 5-hydroxytryptamine when acting from the liquor space in unanaesthetized rabbits.

1. In unanaesthetized rabbits 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP) and 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) were injected into the cisterna magna or into the cannulated left lateral cerebral ventricle while rectal temperature was recorded.2. 5-HTP injected intracisternally in a dose of 1.5-3 mg produced a fall in temperature often followed by a rise beyond the pre-injection level. With 6 mg the main effect was a rise in temperature. The intraventricular injection of 1-2 mg 5-HTP usually produced a fall followed by a rise.3. 5-HT injected intracisternally in a dose of 0.2 mg produced a fall in temperature similar to that produced with this dose injected intraventricularly. Following an intracisternal injection of 1-4 mg 5-HT there was either a fall, or a fall followed by a rise, but in a few experiments the effect consisted mainly of a rise in temperature.4. Additional effects regularly observed with these injections were tachypnoea, ear twitching, rapid movements of the vibrissae, shaking of the head, wiping and scratching movements, ataxia, nodding and sideways movements of the head and long-lasting catalepsy.5. The sites where 5-HTP and 5-HT act when producing the temperature responses and the various behavioural effects are discussed.

Effect of monoamineoxidase inhibitors on 5-hydroxytryptamine output from perfused cerebral ventricles of anaesthetized cats.

1. In cats anaesthetized with pentobarbitone sodium, intraperitoneal injections of four inhibitors of monoamine oxidase (MAO) were shown to increase the 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) in the effluent from the perfused cerebral ventricles.2. Weight for weight, tranylcypromine was found to be about twice as potent as pheniprazine, eight times as potent as nialamide and sixty times as potent as pargyline.3. The effect of tranylcypromine was also examined after reserpine had been injected into the cerebral ventricles or after p-chlorophenylalanine, given intraperitoneally. In both conditions tranylcypromine retained its ability to increase the 5-HT output from the perfused cerebral ventricle, but the effect was attenuated, more after p-chlorophenylalanine than after reserpine.4. Evidence is put forward that in both conditions the brain is not completely depleted of its 5-HT, but that the 5-HT is only reduced, more after p-chlorophenylalanine than after reserpine.

Temperature effects of reserpine injected into the cerebral ventricles of rabbits and cats.

1. In unanaesthetized rabbits and cats reserpine was injected through a chronically implanted cannula in the left lateral cerebral ventricle, and rectal temperature was recorded.2. In rabbits the reserpine (0.5-0.6 mg) caused a rise in temperature, frequent defaecation and sedation. On repeating the intraventricular injections at 24 hr intervals the rise in temperature was not obtained with the second or third injection, but defaecation and sedation still occurred. When the hyperthermic response to intraventricular reserpine had disappeared the anterior hypothalamus still responded to intraventricular noradrenaline which produced a rise in temperature.3. In cats the reserpine (0.5-0.75 mg) caused a biphasic change in temperature, i.e. an initial fall followed by a rise, frequent defaecation, and catalepsy. On repeating the intraventricular injections at 24 hr intervals the initial hypothermic phase of the temperature response was not obtained with the second or third injection, but the late rise, defaecation and catalepsy were still produced. When the hypothermic phase had disappeared the hypothalamus still responded to intraventricular noradrenaline or adrenaline which produced a fall, and to intraventricular 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) which produced a rise in temperature.4. It is concluded that the rise in temperature in rabbits and the initial fall produced in cats is not due to a direct action of reserpine on the cells of the anterior hypothalamus but to noradrenaline released from adrenergic fibres ending at these cells. When these fibres are depleted of their noradrenaline by one or two injections of reserpine, these effects are not obtained because noradrenaline is no longer available to be released in sufficient amounts to raise temperature in rabbits and to lower it in cats.