[The biological mechanisms of a congenital predisposition to alcoholism]. / Nekotorye biologicheskie mekhanizmy vrozhdennoi predraspolozhennosti k alkogolizmu.

In descendants of white rats with chronic alcoholic intoxication, the contents of DA in the brain and blood plasma, characteristics of GABA and opiate brain receptors, the contents of cAMP and other substances were studied as well as the c-fos gene expression. The data obtained suggest a considerable role of the changes in the DA system functions in the genesis of pathology in these descendants.

[The effect of naloxone on the activation, inducible by chronic alcoholic intoxication, of the membrane-bound form of enkephalin convertase in the midbrain and hypothalamus of rats]. / Vliianie naloksona na indutsiruemuiu khronicheskoi alkogol'noi intoksikatsiei aktivatsiiu membranno-sviazannoi formy énkefalinkonvertazy v srednem mozge i gipotalamuse krys.

The activity of membrane-bound and soluble enkephalin convertase was determined with dansyl-Phe-Leu-Arg as substrate in midbrain, including hypothalamus, of Wistar rats, who were given ethanol (20% solution i.g., 9-15 g/kg per day during 4 days) or naloxone (2 mg/kg i.p. twice a day during 4 days) or their combination. It was shown that activation of membrane-bound enzyme, observed after alcohol treatment of rats, didn't develop by combined ethanol-naloxone administration. It's supposed that alcohol-stimulating effect on this enzyme realizes throughout the hyperstimulation of opioid receptors by enkephalins and, possible, by other opioid-active compounds.

[The action of low doses of bromocryptin in experimental morphine abstinence in rats]. / Deistvie malykh doz bromokriptina pri éksperimental'noi morfinnoi abstinentsii u krys.

In experiments on rats which consumed for a long time morphine solution as a drinking liquid there was studied the effect of low doses of bromocriptine on the behavioural manifestations of morphine abstinence syndrome and the condition of the noradrenergic, dopaminergic and conjugated GABAergic systems of the brain. It was shown that the preliminary administration of bromocriptine decreased the degree of the withdrawal syndrome that correlated with the restoration of dopamine content and the normalization of the condition of D2-dopaminergic receptors in different regions of the brain. Bromocriptine exerted no influence on the morphine withdrawal-induced changes in the condition of GABA receptors of the cerebral cortex.

[The similarity of the pathogenetic mechanisms of alcoholism and drug dependence and the means of searching for agents for treating these diseases]. / Obshchnost' patogeneticheskikh mekhanizmov alkogolizma i narkomanii i puti poiska sredstv dlia lecheniia étikh zabolevanii.

The concept of the principal unity of the pivotal mechanisms underlying the formation of the syndrome of dependence on alcohol and various narcotic agents is presented. The central link of the mechanisms is the totality of the specific disturbances of neurochemical processes among which of particular importance are the specific changes in the functional state of catecholamine system. The theoretical approaches to the development of medicinal agents for treating alcoholism and drug addictions are considered. As an example there are discussed the results of using small doses of dopamine receptor stimulants (apomorphine and bromocriptine) and a neuropeptide cholecystokinin.

[Effect of bromocriptine in experimental alcoholism in rats of both sexes]. / Deistvie bromkriptina pri eksperimental'nom alkogolizme u krys raznogo pola.

It has been shown in experiments on intact rats that bromocriptin (1 mg/kg) produces opposite changes on the self-stimulation of the lateral hypothalamus: facilitates it in females and inhibits in males, whereas administered in a dose of 10 mg/kg inhibits it in animals of both sexes. It has been established in experiments on rats preferring ethanol to water that the drug in a dose of 1 mg/kg reduces the degree of ethanol preference only in females while the dose of ethanol consumption declines in animals of both sexes. Besides, bromocriptin decreases the rate of ethanol elimination from blood (3-fold in females, and 1.8-fold in males) and does not interfere with the reduction of ethanol concentration characteristic for the time of withdrawal.

[Effect of bromocryptin on the alcohol consumption and catecholamine level in the brain of rats undergoing long-term alcoholization]. / Vliianie bromokriptina na potreblenie alkogoloa i uroven' katekholaminov v mozge krys v usloviiakh dlitel'noi alkogolizatsii.

It has been established in experiments on rats subjected to long-term alcoholization that chronic administration of bromocryptin in small doses (1 mg/kg) considerably minimizes ethanol consumption by animals. Reduction in alcoholic motivation correlates with normalization of the level of dopamine, decreased by chronic alcohol action in the rat hypothalamus and midbrain. The use of bromocryptin also prevents an increase in the dopamine content in the rat hypothalamus during alcohol withdrawal.

[Self-stimulation characteristics and endogenous ethanol in rats of different sexes]. / Osobennosti samostimuliatsii i éndogennyi étanol u krys raznogo pola.

It has been shown in experiments on rats that in females, the threshold of self-stimulation of the lateral hypothalamus was 1.5-2 times higher than in males. Besides, the rate of self-stimulation with subthreshold currents was 57% higher in the estrus than in the diestrus. Measurement of the blood level of endogenous ethanol and animals' mass on daily self-stimulation for 8-10 weeks permitted making correlations with analogous parameters in rats of both sexes preferring ethanol to water for a long time. In both cases, the levels of endogenous ethanol, which were higher in females than in males, were lower than in intact animals. In addition, there was an increase in the body weight (only in males). The latter circumstance evidences a greater damaging action of prolonged self-stimulation on the females' body.

[Effect of several psychopharmacologic preparations on adaptation to stressful conditions]. / Vliianie nekotorykh psikhofarmakolegicheskikh preparatov na adaptatsiiu v usloviiakh stressa

Experiments staged on rats demonstrated that the formation of pathological states caused by stress and accompained by the development of ulcerative lesion of the gastric mucosa are associated with the degree of the catecholamines level drop in the mesencephalon and hypothalamus. The application of seduxen and also of combinations consisting of L-DOPA with seduxen, or with an L-adrenoblocking agent-pyroxan tends to reduce the frequency of developing ulcerative lesions of the stomach. The protective effect produced by the combination of L-DOPA with an L-adrenoblocking agent--pyroxan is barred by an additional administration of an beta-adrenoblocking agent--inderal.

[Comparative evaluation of the antitoxic activity of central nervous system analeptics and their combinations in barbamyl poisoning]. / Sravnitel'naia otsenka antitoksicheskoi aktivnosti analeptikov tsentral' nervnoi systemy i ikh kombinatsii pri otravlenii barbamilom

Tests conducted on rats poisoned with increasingly lethal doses of sodium amytal demonstrated the antitoxic activity of an analeptic mixture to be superior to that of picrotoxin, strichnine, corasol and caffeine entering into its composition and also to the activity of bemegride. As to the degree of antitoxic activity in poisoning of mice with sodium amytal (one LD50) the CNS analeptics are arranged in the following descending oder of their action: analeptic mixture, picrotoxin, bemegride, corasol, strychnine. In poisoning with higher doses of sodium amytal (LD84) corasol, strychnine and caffeine are ineffective, the most productive being analeptic mixture and picrotoxin. Bemegride proves effective only in a single dose of 2.8 LD50 for intact animals.