GABAA-benzodiazepine receptors in the striatum are involved in the sedation produced by a moderate, but not an intoxicating ethanol dose in outbred Wistar rats.

The role of the dorsal striatum in mediating the sedation produced by a moderate (0.75 g/kg) and an intoxicating (1.25 g/kg) EtOH dose was investigated in the open field by determining the capacity of direct intrastriatal injections of RY 008, a partial inverse agonist of the benzodiazepine (BDZ) receptor, to antagonize EtOH's effects. SR 95531, the competitive high-affinity GABAA antagonist was used as a reference compound. Intrastriatal RY 008 (50, 500 ng) and SR 95531 (50 ng) antagonized the sedation produced by the 0.75 g/kg EtOH dose. However, RY 008 did not alter the sedation produced by the 1.25 g/kg dose. RY 008 alone was without effect. RY 008 also failed to negatively modulate GABAergic function at alpha1beta2gamma2 or alpha6beta2gamma2 receptor subtypes expressed in Xenopus oocytes. Intrastriatal modulation of the moderate EtOH dose was site specific: no antagonism by RY 008 after intraaccumbens infusions was observed. The results suggest that central GABAA-BDZ receptors in the dorsal striatum play an important role in mediating the sedation produced by a moderate EtOH dose in the open field.

Correlation of cytologic, colposcopic, and histologic studies with immunohistochemical studies of human papillomavirus structural antigens in an unselected patient population.

A study was undertaken to determine the prevalence of human papillomavirus infection in the general population. The first phase evaluated cytologic and colposcopic diagnoses in 962 consecutive patients in a community practice. The second, detailed phase evaluated 110 consecutive patients making routine visits in the same practice. Studies performed for each patient in phase two were cervical cytology, cervical cytologic immunohistochemistry for human papillomavirus, colposcopy with biopsy of all acetowhite epithelium (stained with hematoxylin and eosin and immunohistochemically), saline and potassium hydroxide preparations. All studies were carried out at the initial nonreferral office visit. There was positive cytologic evidence of human papillomavirus in 144 of 962 (15%) of the patients in the first phase and concurrent cytologic and histologic immunohistochemical positivity in 18% of those in the detailed second phase of the study.