ABSTRACT
The brain content of dopamine (DA) and its metabolites [dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC) and homovanillic acid (HVA)] were the same in rats with different immobilization times in forced swimming test, while the serotonin (5-HT) concentration was higher in high active (HA, immobilization < 2 min) than low active (LA, immobilization > 5 min) animals. Ethanol (2 g/kg, PO) tended to increase the DA level in the striatum and nucleus accumbens in LA rats and decrease the 5-HT and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) concentration in HA rats. delta-Sleep-inducing peptide (DSIP) injection reduced the level of 5-HT in the medial prefrontal cortex (MFC) in both groups, did not affect the concentration of DA or DOPAC, but increased HVA in the striatum of HA rats. DSIP injected before ethanol administration augmented the ethanol effects on 5-HT in the MFC and attenuated the action of ethanol on 5-HIAA in the nucleus accumbens. A relationship between the different levels of voluntary alcohol consumption and sensitivity to stress among LA and HA rats and the differences in DA and 5-HT concentrations is suggested. The use of LA and HA rats in developing models for testing of stress-shielding compounds is also described.
Subject(s)
Biogenic Monoamines/metabolism , Brain Chemistry/drug effects , Delta Sleep-Inducing Peptide/pharmacology , Ethanol/pharmacology , 3,4-Dihydroxyphenylacetic Acid/metabolism , Alcohol Drinking , Animals , Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid , Corpus Striatum/drug effects , Corpus Striatum/metabolism , Dopamine/metabolism , Electrochemistry , Homovanillic Acid/metabolism , Male , Nucleus Accumbens/drug effects , Nucleus Accumbens/metabolism , Prefrontal Cortex/drug effects , Prefrontal Cortex/metabolism , Rats , Serotonin/metabolism , Stress, Psychological/metabolismABSTRACT
The alcoholization of pregnant female rats (5 g/kg) results in a decrease of endogenous ethanol level in their offspring and distant disturbances of the conditioned reflex activities of the young rats deteriorating the formation and preservation of the skill with an emotional positive reinforcement. Sodium gamma-gydroxybutyrate administered in a dose of 50 mg/kg from the 8th to the 20th day of life prevents the above-mentioned disturbances of learning and memory, restores the level of endogenous ethanol, corrects the parameters of lipid and mediator metabolism in the brain and blood changed by prenatal alcoholization.
Subject(s)
Alcoholism/drug therapy , Behavior, Animal/drug effects , Brain Diseases/chemically induced , Sodium Oxybate/therapeutic use , Alcoholism/metabolism , Animals , Biogenic Amines/metabolism , Brain/drug effects , Brain/metabolism , Brain Diseases/drug therapy , Brain Diseases/metabolism , Drug Evaluation, Preclinical , Ethanol/toxicity , Female , Learning/drug effects , Lipid Metabolism , Memory/drug effects , Pregnancy , Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects , RatsABSTRACT
The effects of the synthetic dipeptide, L-pyroglutamyl-D-alaninamide (LPDA) were studied in the experiments on offspring of alcoholized during the pregnancy (5 g/kg/day) females. This dipeptide, which revealed the nootropic activity in previous experiments, was injected to the pups in dose of 1 mg/kg from 8 to 19 days of life. LPDA was shown to prevent the delayed disturbances of learning in passive avoidance test, of extrapolatory behaviour in escape test, to attenuate the emotional hyperreactivity. LPDA normalized EEG power spectrum, decreased interhemispheric asymmetry. This substance attenuated the disbalance evoked by prenatal alcoholization.
Subject(s)
Brain/drug effects , Dipeptides/pharmacology , Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders/drug therapy , Age Factors , Animals , Animals, Newborn , Brain/growth & development , Dipeptides/therapeutic use , Escape Reaction/drug effects , Female , Learning Disabilities/prevention & control , Pregnancy , Pyrrolidonecarboxylic Acid/analogs & derivatives , RatsABSTRACT
A number of biochemical parameters have been determined which characterized the state of CNS and the structure of cell membranes in antenatally alcoholized animals. As compared with the control group the alcoholized animals had a significantly increased level of phosphatidyl inositol diphosphate in brain phospholipid fractions, while content of serotonin was reduced in their brain and increased in blood plasma; content of phosphatidyl serine and the cholesterol/phospholipids ratio were reduced in brain.
Subject(s)
Brain/metabolism , Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders/metabolism , Animals , Brain/enzymology , Calcium/metabolism , Calpain/metabolism , Cell Membrane/metabolism , Cholesterol/metabolism , Female , Hydrolysis , Phosphatidylinositols/metabolism , Pregnancy , Rats , Serotonin/metabolism , Sialic Acids/metabolismABSTRACT
In order to elucidate potentialities of modifying the lipid component of bacterial membranes, lyophilized cells of M. lysodeikticus, E. coli and other bacteria were treated by hydrophobic compounds dissolved in the organic solvent, with the latter subsequently removed by evaporation or freezedrying prior to cell rehydration. The data obtained by means of spin-probes, fluorescent spectroscopy, electron microscopy, photoreactive label and other methods suggest that following bacteria rehydration at least part of the substance occurs in the membrane structures. The amount of the substance involved in bacterial cells depends on the type of compound and on whether bacterial cells belong to gram-positive or gram-negative microorganisms: the substance content of the latter is greater than of the former.