Serotonin and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid concentrations in individual hypothalamic nuclei and other brain areas of rat

Serotonin and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) were measured in individual nuclei of rat hypothalamus and other brain areas using HPLC with electrochemical detection. 5-HIAA levels were first demonstrated in hypothalamic and some discrete brain areas. The 5-HIAA/5-HT ratio was highest in the n. caudatus putamen, high in the n. ventromedialis and lowest in the n. suprachiasmaticus.

A neurochemical study of developmental impairment of the brain caused by the administration of cytosine arabinoside during the fetal or neonatal period of rats

Injection of pregnant rats with cytosine arabinoside (ara-C) (280 mg/kg) on day 15 of gestation caused a significant rise (about two times the control value) in monoamine concentrations (norepinephrine, dopamine, and serotonin) accompanied by a decrease (about 60% of the control) in the brain weight and DNA content in the cerebrum of the offspring at 60 days of age. When neonatal rats were injected with ara-C (30 mg/kg/day) for four consecutive days from the fourth to seventh days after birth, a decrease of DNA content per cerebellum and an elevation of monoamine concentrations in the cerebellum were found. However, the total content of each monoamine per cerebrum or cerebellum showed no difference from the control. These results suggest that monoaminergic neurons may remain intact, with normal monoaminergic synapses compressed into a small brain volume. The neonatal administration of ara-C caused an elevation of 2',3'-cyclic nucleotide 3'-phosphodiesterase (CNPase) (EC 3.1.4.37) activity and myelin protein content in the cerebellum, suggesting a relative increase in myelin concentration as a result of hypoplasia of granule cells.

Differential effects of acute and chronic administration of haloperidol on homovanillic acid levels in discrete dopaminergic areas of rat brain

After acute administration of haloperidol, homovanillic acid (HVA) levels were increased in the prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, discrete limbic areas and A14 dopamine (DA) neurons. The maximal effect of haloperidol was attained more slowly in the prefrontal cortex and amygdala than in the other regions. The ED50 of haloperidol was 0.03 mg/kg in the prefrontal cortex, but was 0.06-0.07 mg/kg in other areas examined. After repeated administration of haloperidol, tolerance to the HVA increase was observed in the striatum and all limbic areas examined, the amygdala being the most susceptible to this tolerance. In contrast, no tolerance was found in the anteromedial and suprarhinal DA neurons of the prefrontal cortex and A14 DA neurons. These results suggest that the prefrontal cortex may be a possible site for the antipsychotic action of haloperidol. On the other hand, no change of HVA levels in the A12 and A13 DA neurons of the hypothalamus was observed after haloperidol treatments, suggesting a lack of neuronal feedback mechanism in the A12 and A13 DA neurons.

Dopamine, serotonin and alpha-adrenergic receptor blocking activities in serum and their relationships to prolactin level in schizophrenic patients receiving long-term chlorpromazine treatment

The clinical application of a dopamine radioreceptor assay for neuroleptics has been proposed. Simultaneous monitoring of serum antidopaminergic (anti-DA), antiserotonergic (anti-5HT) antiadrenergic (anti-NA) activities may provide a better understanding of clinical effects of neuroleptics. Serum anti-DA and anti-5HT activities were estimated by competition for 3H-spiperone binding to dopamine and serotonin receptors in rat brain, respectively, and anti-NA activity by competition for 3H-WB-4101 binding to alpha-receptors. Thirty-one patients receiving maintenance doses of chlorpromazine (CPZ) chronically were studied. Serum activities varied among patients receiving the same dose, but correlated significantly with dose. Anti-DA activity also correlated with both anti-5HT anti-NA activities, and the average ratio of anti-5HT or anti-NA to anti-DA activity was slightly reduced by metabolism of CPZ. However, some patients had a different spectrum of serum activities from that of in vitro activities. Serum prolactin (PRL) correlated weakly with all the serum activities. The serum PRL anti-DA activity ratio appeared to be independent of anti-5HT or anti-NA activity, suggesting the predominant involvement of anti-DA activity in the stimulation of PRL release.

Mass fragmentographic determination of homovanillic acid in individual dopaminergic neuron systems of rat brain: application of reaction gas chromatography

Homovanillic acid (HVA) levels of 12 discrete rat brain areas were determined by a mass fragmentographic method using the reaction gas chromatographic technique. The use of reaction gas chromatography increased the sensitivity for determination of HVA. The sensitivity of this method allows measurement of HVA in small amounts of brain tissue. The HVA levels in polar, medial, and lateral fields of prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, septum, amygdala, A12, A13, and A14 dopaminergic neurons were 0.417 +/- 0.018 ng/mg protein, 0.689 +/- 0.004, 0.753 +/- 0.024, 0.496 +/- 0.029, 1.311 +/- 0.046, 0.555 +/- 0.008, 1.949 +/- 0.077, 1.109 +/- 0.112, and 0.489 +/- 0.019, respectively. The HVA levels in these areas are first reported in the present paper.

Prediction of response to and actual outcome of chlorpromazine treatment in schizophrenic patients

A blink controlled study evaluated the prediction of response to chlorpromazine treatment in 37 schizophrenics on the basis of actual outcomes. Prior to the initiation of treatment, blood samples were taken three hours after a dose of 50 mg of chlorpromazine for the analyses of the drug and its metabolites. The chlorpromazine therapy was then begun and continued for three months. The results agreed with our previous conclusion that patients who showed high levels of the metabolites after a single dose of chlorpromazine tended to have poor clinical improvement with chlorpromazine and that the responders showed the opposite pattern. The predictability of response to chlorpromazine therapy is significantly high in the patients with very low or high levels of the metabolites. However, this is useful at best in 46% of the subjects studied.

Effects of thyroidectomy on monoamine oxidase activities toward tyramine and serotonin in the circumventricular nuclei of the rat

Following thyroidectomy, monoamine oxidase (MAO) activities toward tyramine decreased significantly by 20% in the nucleus periventricularis and the nucleus arcuatus among the 3 hypothalamic nuclei of the rat, while MAO activity toward serotonin decreased significantly by 10% only in the nucleus periventricularis. It is suggested that thyroidectomy induced selective changes on the multiple forms of MAO in the discrete circumventricular nuclei.

Glutamate decarboxylase activity in preoptic and hypothalamic nuclei of the rat

Freeze-dried samples were used for the determination of glutamate decarboxylase activity in discrete preoptic and hypothalamic nuclei. The activity showed marked regional variation in distribution.

Iodinated neurohypophyseal hormones as potential ligands for receptor binding and intermediates in synthesis of tritiated hormones

[3-Iodo-Tyr2]oxytocin (MIOT), [3,5-diiodo-Tyr2]oxytocin (DIOT), [3-iodo-Tyr2,Lys8]vasopressin (MILVP), [3,5-diiodo-Tyr2,Lys8]vasopressin (DILVP), [3-iodo-Tyr2,Arg8]vasopressin (MIAVP), and [3,5-diiodo-Tyr2,Arg8]vasopressin (DIAVP) were synthesized by iodination of the respective hormones, pruified, and characterized. All the monoiodo hormones had to be freshly prepared prior to bioassays, since on storage they gave rise to hormonal-like biological activity. The biological activities of these iodo analogues were measured in an adenylate cyclase assay employing neurohypophyseal hormone (NHH) sensitive bovine renal medullary membranes, and/or the rat oxytocic assay. In the cyclase assay, DIOT, DILVP, and DIAVP were inactive as agonists or antagonists. MIOT shows no agonistic activity in the renal cyclase system and uterus, but is a weak reversible inhibitor of oxytocin (OT) in both systems. When MIOT (10(-4) M) was preincubated with renal membranes for 10 min at 37 degrees C before addition of OT, it behaved as a noncompetitive inhibitor of NHH-stimulated adenylate cyclase. MILVP and MIAVP appear to be partial agonists with Km (half maximal response) 3 X 10(-6) and 3 X 10(-7) M, respectively, as determined in the cyclase assay. Upon preincubation with renal medullary membranes, MILVP (10(-6) M) behaves as a more potent noncompetitive inhibitor of OT than MIOT. Accordingly, iodo derivatives of NHH do not exhibit sufficient affinity to serve an specific ligands to measure OT, LVP, or AVP receptors in the uterus and kidney. Study of the specificity of inhibition produced by MIOT revealed that this analogue does not act selectively upon NHH receptors. Thus, MIOT modified adenylate cyclase systems which do not have NHH receptors, e.g., the PTH-sensitive adenylate cyclase in bovine renal cortex and the glucagon-sensitive adenylate cyclase in rat liver. DIOT, DILVP, and DIAVP were subjected to catalytic tritiation (employing carrier free tritium) and were converted to [3H]OT (25, 31, and 25 Ci/mmol), [3H]LVP (26 and 23 Ci/mmol), and [3H]AVP (17 Ci/mmol), respectively. These tritiated ligands have been successfully used to measure NHH receptor sites both in kidney and uterine membranes as described in other studies.

Characteristics of hydrocarbon uptake in cultures with two liquid phases

In hydrocarbon fermentation, the efficiency of hydrocarbon uptake by cells is one of the keys to the economical production of single-cell protein. This work is concerned with characterization of cultures with two liquid phases for understanding the hydrocarbon uptake process by cells. Batch cultivation of Candida lipolytica was carried out in shaking flasks and in a tower fermentor with motionless mixers. Microscopic observation and cell and hydrocarbon concentration distribution in batch cultivation showed that some cells are attached to the large oil drops and others are free from them. Interfacila tension between oil and water and Sauter mean drop size decreased as cultivation proceeded. On the basis of the experimental results, the process of hydrocarbon uptake by cells is discussed.

A possible mode of cardiovascular actions of dopamine in dogs

A possible mode of cardiovascular actions of dopamine was studied using ephedrine. In the dog pretreated with repeated administrations of ephedrine (total dose, 40 or 80 mg/kg, i.v.) or with combined administrations of ephedrine (total dose, 90 mg/kg, s.c. and i.v.) and reserpine (2 mg/kg, s.c., 24 hr previously), pressor responses to dopamine were eliminated and reversed to depressor responses whereas depressor responses to dopamine were potentiated. Positive chronotropic effects of dopamine were almost eliminated. Pressor and positive chronotropic effects of tyramine were almost abolished. Sympathomimetic effect of noradrenaline and adrenaline were potentiated while those of isoprenaline were inhibited. In the heart-lung preparation of ephedrine-treated dogs (total dose, 40 mg/kg, i.v.), cardiac stimulating effects of dopamine and tyramine were strongly depressed, and those of noradrenaline, adrenaline and isoprenaline were reduced to some extent. In the open-chest dogs, after pretreatment of cocaine (4 mg/kg, i.v.), pressor, positive inotropic and chronotropic effects of noradrenaline were potentiated, whilst those of tyramine were inhibited. Those of dopamine were not visibly altered, but depressor, negative chronotropic and inotropic effects of dopamine appeared at small doses. In the ephedrine-pretreated dogs, these sympathomimetic effects of dopamine and tyramine after cocaine were strongly depressed and those of noradrenaline were inhibited to a certain degree. The results obtained with ephedrine suggest that dopamine differs from other catecholamines and tyramine in the mode of cardiovascular actions.