Standardized method for the harvest of nonhuman primate tissue optimized for multiple modes of analyses.

Appropriate animal models are critical to conduct translational studies of human disorders without variables that can confound clinical studies. Such analytic methods as patch-clamp electrophysiological and voltammetric recordings of neurons in brain slices require living brain tissue. In order to obtain viable tissue from nonhuman primate brains, tissue collection methods must be designed to preserve cardiovascular and respiratory functions for as long as possible. This paper describes a method of necropsy that has been used in three species of monkeys that satisfies this requirement. At necropsy, animals were maintained under a deep surgical plane of anesthesia while a craniotomy was conducted to expose the brain. Following the craniotomy, animals were perfused with ice-cold, oxygenated artificial cerebrospinal fluid to displace blood and to reduce the temperature of the entire brain. The brain was removed within minutes of death and specific brain regions were immediately dissected for subsequent in vitro electrophysiology or voltammetry experiments. This necropsy method also provided for the collection of tissue blocks containing all brain regions that were immediately frozen and stored for subsequent genomic, proteomic, autoradiographic and histological studies. An added benefit from the design of this necropsy method is that all major peripheral tissues were also collected and are now being utilized in a wide range of genomic, biochemical and histological assays. This necropsy method has resulted in the establishment and growth of a nonhuman primate alcohol tissue bank designed to distribute central nervous system and peripheral tissues to the larger scientific community.

TC-8831, a nicotinic acetylcholine receptor agonist, reduces L-DOPA-induced dyskinesia in the MPTP macaque.

Long-term L-DOPA treatment for Parkinson's disease (PD) is limited by motor complications, particularly L-DOPA-induced dyskinesia (LID). A therapy with the ability to ameliorate LID without reducing anti-parkinsonian benefit would be of great value. We assessed the ability of TC-8831, an agonist at nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChR) containing α6ß2/α4ß2 subunit combinations, to provide such benefits in 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine- (MPTP) lesioned macaques with established LID. Animals were treated orally for consecutive 14-day periods with twice-daily vehicle (weeks 1-2) or TC-8831 (0.03, 0.1 or 0.3 mg/kg, weeks 3-8). L-DOPA was also administered, once-daily, (weeks 1-12, median-dose 30 mg/kg, p.o.). For the following two-weeks (weeks 9-10), TC-8831 was washed out, while once-daily L-DOPA treatment was maintained. The effects of once-daily amantadine (3 mg/kg, p.o.) were then assessed over weeks 11-12. LID, parkinsonism, duration and quality of ON-time were assessed weekly by a neurologist blinded to treatment. TC-8831 reduced the duration of 'bad' ON-time (ON-time with disabling dyskinesia) by up to 62% and decreased LID severity (median score 18 cf. 34 (vehicle), 0.1 mg/kg, 1-3 h period). TC-8831 also significantly reduced choreiform and dystonic dyskinesia (median scores 6 and 31 cf. 19 and 31 respectively (vehicle), both 0.03 mg/kg, 1-3 h). At no time did TC-8831 treatment result in a reduction in anti-parkinsonian benefit of L-DOPA. By comparison, amantadine also significantly reduced dyskinesia and decreased 'bad' ON-time (up to 61%) but at the expense of total ON-time (reduced by up to 23%). TC-8831 displayed robust anti-dyskinetic actions and improved the quality of ON-time evoked by L-DOPA without any reduction in anti-parkinsonian benefit.

Diurnal pituitary-adrenal activity during schedule-induced polydipsia of water and ethanol in cynomolgus monkeys (Macaca fascicularis).

RATIONALE: Intermittent delivery of an important commodity (e.g., food pellets) generates excessive behaviors as an adjunct to the schedule of reinforcement (adjunctive behaviors) that are hypothesized to be due to conflict between engaging and escaping a situation where reinforcement is delivered, but at suboptimal rates. OBJECTIVES: This study characterized the endocrine correlates during schedule-induced polydipsia of water and ethanol using a longitudinal approach in non-human primates. METHODS: Plasma adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and cortisol were measured in samples from awake cynomolgus monkeys (Macaca fascicularis, 11 adult males) obtained at the onset, mid-day, and offset of their 12-h light cycle. The monkeys were induced to drink water and ethanol (4 % w/v, in water) using a fixed time (FT) 300-s interval schedule of pellet delivery. The induction fluid changed every 30 sessions in the following order: water, 0.5 g/kg ethanol, 1.0 g/kg ethanol, and 1.5 g/kg ethanol. Following induction, ethanol and water were concurrently available for 22 h/day. RESULTS: The FT 300-s schedule gradually increased ACTH, but not cortisol, during water induction to a plateau sustained throughout ethanol induction in every monkey. Upon termination of the schedule, ACTH decreased to baseline and cortisol below baseline. Diurnal ACTH and cortisol were unrelated to the dose of ethanol, but ACTH rhythm flattened at 0.5 g/kg/day and remained flattened. CONCLUSIONS: The coincidence of elevated ACTH with the initial experience of drinking to intoxication may have altered the mechanisms involved in the transition to heavy drinking.

Effects of early life stress on drinking and serotonin system activity in rhesus macaques: 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid in cerebrospinal fluid predicts brain tissue levels.

Early childhood stress is a risk factor for the development of substance-abuse disorders. A nonhuman primate model of early life stress, social impoverishment through nursery-rearing rather than mother-rearing, has been shown to produce increased impulsive and anxiety-like behaviors, cognitive and motor deficits, and increased alcohol consumption. These behavioral changes have been linked to changes in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) levels of 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA), a serotonin (5-HT) metabolite. The effects of different rearing conditions on ethanol drinking and three measures of 5-HT function in the central nervous system were evaluated, including CSF 5-HIAA levels and tissue levels of 5-HT and 5-HIAA in brain samples. Brain samples were taken from the dorsal caudate, putamen, substantia nigra (SN) pars reticulata, SN pars compacta and hippocampus. There was a clear effect of rearing condition on the 5-HT system. Overall 5-HIAA and 5-HIAA/5-HT ratio measures of 5-HT turnover were significantly lower in nursery reared compared to mother-reared animals. In addition, there was a strong within-subject correlation between CSF and brain tissue 5-HIAA levels. Ethanol drinking was greater in nursery reared monkeys, consistent with previous results. These findings show that CSF 5-HIAA measurements can be used to predict brain 5-HT activity that may be involved in behavioral outcomes such as anxiety and alcohol consumption. Thus, CSF sampling may provide a minimally invasive test for neurochemical risk factors related to alcohol abuse.

Drinking typography established by scheduled induction predicts chronic heavy drinking in a monkey model of ethanol self-administration.

BACKGROUND: We have developed an animal model of alcohol self-administration that initially employs schedule-induced polydipsia (SIP) to establish reliable ethanol consumption under open access (22 h/d) conditions with food and water concurrently available. SIP is an adjunctive behavior that is generated by constraining access to an important commodity (e.g., flavored food). The induction schedule and ethanol polydipsia generated under these conditions affords the opportunity to investigate the development of drinking typologies that lead to chronic, excessive alcohol consumption. METHODS: Adult male cynomolgus monkeys (Macaca fascicularis) were induced to drink water and 4% (w/v in water) ethanol by a Fixed-Time 300 seconds (FT-300 seconds) schedule of banana-flavored pellet delivery. The FT-300 seconds schedule was in effect for 120 consecutive sessions, with daily induction doses increasing from 0.0 to 0.5 g/kg to 1.0 g/kg to 1.5 g/kg every 30 days. Following induction, the monkeys were allowed concurrent access to 4% (w/v) ethanol and water for 22 h/day for 12 months. RESULTS: Drinking typographies during the induction of drinking 1.5 g/kg ethanol emerged that were highly predictive of the daily ethanol intake over the next 12 months. Specifically, the frequency in which monkeys ingested 1.5 g/kg ethanol without a 5-minute lapse in drinking (defined as a bout of drinking) during induction strongly predicted (correlation 0.91) subsequent ethanol intake over the next 12 months of open access to ethanol. Blood ethanol during induction were highly correlated with intake and with drinking typography and ranged from 100 to 160 mg% when the monkeys drank their 1.5 g/kg dose in a single bout. Forty percent of the population became heavy drinkers (mean daily intakes >3.0 g/kg for 12 months) characterized by frequent "spree" drinking (intakes >4.0 g/kg/d). CONCLUSION: This model of ethanol self-administration identifies early alcohol drinking typographies (gulping the equivalent of 6 drinks) that evolve into chronic heavy alcohol consumption in primates (drinking the equivalent of 16 to 20 drinks per day). The model may aid in identifying biological risks for establishing harmful alcohol drinking.

The effects of ethanol consumption on vasculogenesis potential in nonhuman primates.

BACKGROUND: Vasculogenesis is essential to the preservation and repair of damaged or diseased vessels. Alcohol is the most commonly abused drug among young adults, but its effects on vessel growth and repair are unknown. The basis of vascular repair is endothelial progenitor cell (EPC) recruitment to assist in the formation of new vascular network (vasculogenesis). Therefore, the objective of this study was to measure the effects of ethanol consumption on the production, mobilization and vasculogenesis potential EPCs in nonhuman primates. METHODS: Four to five year-old (young adult) male rhesus monkeys consumed monkey chow and water (Control, n = 7), or chow and water + ethanol (Alcohol, 2.45 g/d, n = 7) for 12 months. Peripheral blood (PB) and bone marrow (BM) samples were collected for fluorescence-activated cell-sorting analysis of cell surface antigens (CD45, CD31, CD44, CD133, VEGF-R2 - or KDR); and for capillary formation on Matrigel-coated plates. RESULTS: There were greater numbers of nonhematopoeitic stromal cells (CD45-) and putative mesenchymal progenitor cells (CD45-/CD44+) in the PB and BM of Alcohol versus Control monkeys (p < 0.05). Additionally, there were greater numbers of EPCs (CD45-/CD133+/KDR+) in the BM and PB of Alcohol versus Control monkeys (p < 0.05). However, the EPCs of Alcohol monkeys were less likely to form capillaries on matrigel-coated plates than Control monkeys (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Ethanol consumption in monkeys markedly increased the production and mobilization of EPCs, but decreased their ability to form capillaries. The pathophysiologic consequences of such effects are unclear, but may represent an ethanol-induced chronic stress on the BM, resulting in EPC.

Neuroimaging of rodent and primate models of alcoholism: initial reports from the integrative neuroscience initiative on alcoholism.

Neuroimaging of animal models of alcoholism offers a unique path for translational research to the human condition. Animal models permit manipulation of variables that are uncontrollable in clinical, human investigation. This symposium, which took place at the annual meeting of the Research Society on Alcoholism in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on June 29th, 2004, presented initial findings based on neuroimaging studies from the two centers of the Integrative Neuroscience Initiative on Alcoholism funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Effects of alcohol exposure were assessed with in vitro glucose metabolic imaging of rat brain, in vitro receptor imaging of monkey brain, in vivo magnetic resonance imaging of monkey brain, and in vivo magnetic resonance spectroscopic quantification of alcohol metabolism kinetics in rat brain.

Characterization of the discriminative stimulus effects of N-methyl- D-aspartate ligands under different ethanol training conditions in the cynomolgus monkey ( Macaca fascicularis).

RATIONALE: The current study was designed to extend our knowledge of the N-methyl- D-aspartate (NMDA) glutamate receptor system in mediating the discriminative stimulus effects of ethanol in non-human primates. OBJECTIVES: To characterize the discriminative stimulus effects of the NMDA uncompetitive antagonists dizocilpine, phencyclidine (PCP) and ketamine in male and female monkeys under different ethanol training conditions. METHODS: Adult male ( n=8) and female ( n=9) cynomolgus monkeys ( Macaca fascicularis) were divided into four groups and trained to discriminate 1.0 g/kg ethanol ( n=8) versus water or 2.0 g/kg ethanol ( n=9) versus water in a 2 x 2 design with training dose and sex as main group factors. Ethanol (20% w/v) solutions were administered intragastrically (IG) and responding was maintained under a fixed ratio schedule of food reinforcement. Dose-response determinations for dizocilpine [IG and intramuscular (IM)], PCP (IM) and ketamine (IM) were made under two training intervals (30 and 60 min). RESULTS: Dizocilpine, PCP and ketamine dose-dependently substituted for ethanol in three of four training conditions, the notable exception being in males trained with 2.0 g/kg ethanol. Ethanol-like discriminative stimulus effects were greater with IM dizocilpine than with IG dizocilpine. At the lower ethanol training dose (1.0 g/kg), there were no sex differences in the ethanol-like discriminative stimulus effects of dizocilpine, PCP or ketamine, nor were there sex differences in the potencies to produce ethanol-like discriminative stimulus effects. Sex differences were readily apparent with the higher ethanol training dose (2.0 g/kg), with the NMDA ligands failing to substitute for ethanol in male monkeys, probably due to the rate-suppressive effects of these compounds. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that NMDA receptor-mediated activity is a component to the discriminative stimulus effects of ethanol in male and female nonhuman primates. However, NMDA uncompetitive antagonists were less likely to produce discriminative stimulus effects similar to a high ethanol training dose in male monkeys. In comparison to consistent substitution by GABA(A) positive modulators for ethanol, substitution patterns produced by NMDA uncompetitive antagonists suggest a less robust mediation of the ethanol discriminative stimulus through NMDA receptor systems in nonhuman primates.