Dizocilpine binding to cerebral cortical membranes from developing and ageing mice

Alzheimer's Disease: A Review of Pathology, Current Treatments, and the Potential Therapeutic Effect of Decreasing Oxidative Stress by Combined Vitamin D and l-Cysteine Supplementation

Significance: Excess oxidative stress and neuroinflammation are risk factors in the onset and progression of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and its association with amyloid-β plaque accumulation. Oxidative stress impairs acetylcholine (ACH) and N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor signaling in brain areas that function in memory and learning. Glutathione (GSH) antioxidant depletion positively correlates with the cognitive decline in AD subjects. Treatments that upregulate GSH and ACH levels, which simultaneously decrease oxidative stress and inflammation, may be beneficial for AD. Recent Advances: Some clinical trials have shown a benefit of monotherapy with vitamin D (VD), whose deficiency is linked to AD or with l-cysteine (LC), a precursor of GSH biosynthesis, in reducing mild cognitive impairment. Animal studies have shown a simultaneous decrease in ACH esterase (AChE) and increase in GSH; combined supplementation with VD and LC results in a greater decrease in oxidative stress and inflammation, and increase in GSH levels compared with monotherapy with VD or LC. Therefore, cosupplementation with VD and LC has the potential of increasing GSH, downregulation of oxidative stress, and decreased inflammation and AChE levels. Future Directions: Clinical trials are needed to determine whether safe low-cost dietary supplements, using combined VD+LC, have the potential to alleviate elevated AChE, oxidative stress, and inflammation levels, thereby halting the onset of AD. Goal of Review: The goal of this review is to highlight the pathological hallmarks and current Food and Drug Administration-approved treatments for AD, and discuss the potential therapeutic effect that cosupplementation with VD+LC could manifest by increasing GSH levels in patients. Antioxid. Redox Signal. 40, 663-678.

Use of Quantitative Electroencephalography to Inform Age- and Sex-Related Differences in NMDA Receptor Function Following MK-801 Administration

Sex- and age-related differences in symptom prevalence and severity have been widely reported in patients with schizophrenia, yet the underlying mechanisms contributing to these differences are not well understood. N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor hypofunction contributes to schizophrenia pathology, and preclinical models often use NMDA receptor antagonists, including MK-801, to model all symptom clusters. Quantitative electroencephalography (qEEG) represents a translational approach to measure neuronal activity, identify targetable biomarkers in neuropsychiatric disorders and evaluate possible treatments. Abnormalities in gamma power have been reported in patients with schizophrenia and correspond to psychosis and cognitive impairment. Further, as gamma power reflects cortical glutamate and GABA signaling, it is highly sensitive to changes in NMDA receptor function, and NMDA receptor antagonists aberrantly increase gamma power in rodents and humans. To evaluate the role of sex and age on NMDA receptor function, MK-801 (0.03-0.3 mg/kg, SC) was administered to 3- and 9-month-old male and female Sprague-Dawley rats that were implanted with wireless EEG transmitters to measure cortical brain function. MK-801-induced elevations in gamma power were observed in 3-month-old male and female and 9-month-old male rats. In contrast, 9-month-old female rats demonstrated blunted maximal elevations across a wide dose range. Importantly, MK-801-induced hyperlocomotor effects, a common behavioral screen used to examine antipsychotic-like activity, were similar across all groups. Overall, sex-by-age-related differences in gamma power support using qEEG as a translational tool to evaluate pathological progression and predict treatment response across a heterogeneous population.

GABAergic contributions to alcohol responsivity during adolescence: insights from preclinical and clinical studies

There is a considerable body of literature demonstrating that adolescence is a unique age period, which includes rapid and dramatic maturation of behavioral, cognitive, hormonal and neurobiological systems. Most notably, adolescence is also a period of unique responsiveness to alcohol effects, with both hyposensitivity and hypersensitivity observed to the various effects of alcohol. Multiple neurotransmitter systems are undergoing fine-tuning during this critical period of brain development, including those that contribute to the rewarding effects of drugs of abuse. The role of developmental maturation of the γ-amino-butyric acid (GABA) system, however, has received less attention in contributing to age-specific alcohol sensitivities. This review integrates GABA findings from human magnetic resonance spectroscopy studies as they may translate to understanding adolescent-specific responsiveness to alcohol effects. Better understanding of the vulnerability of the GABA system both during adolescent development, and in psychiatric conditions that include alcohol dependence, could point to a putative mechanism, boosting brain GABA, that may have increased effectiveness for treating alcohol use disorders.

NMDA receptor function, memory, and brain aging

An increasing level of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor hypofunction within the brain is associated with memory and learning impairments, with psychosis, and ultimately with excitotoxic brain injury. As the brain ages, the NMDA receptor system becomes progressively hypofunctional, contributing to decreases in memory and learning performance. In those individuals destined to develop Alzheimer's disease, other abnormalities (eg, amyloidopathy and oxidative stress) interact to increase the NMDA receptor hypofunction (NRHypo) burden. In these vulnerable individuals, the brain then enters into a severe and persistent NRHypo state, which can lead to widespread neurodegeneration with accompanying mental symptoms and further cognitive deterioration. If the hypotheses described herein prove correct, treatment implications may be considerable. Pharmacological methods for preventing the overstimulation of vulnerable corticolimbic pyramidal neurons developed in an animal model may be applicable to the prevention and treatment of Alzheimer's disease.

The Effects of NMDA and GABAA Pharmacological Manipulations on Acute and Rapid Tolerance to Ethanol During Ontogeny

BACKGROUND

Sensitivity to several ethanol effects increases during ontogeny, perhaps in part because of a notable decline in acute tolerance. In contrast, rapid tolerance to ethanol-induced sedation emerges slowly during ontogeny. This study tested the hypothesis that ontogenetic differences in glutamate and/or gamma-aminobutyric acid systems influence tolerance expression.

METHODS

Sprague-Dawley rats at postnatal day (P)26 or P70 received (+)MK-801, muscimol, or saline before ethanol (3.5 or 4.5 g/kg) or saline on day 1 and ethanol only on day 2. Loss of and time to regain the righting reflex and blood alcohol levels at recovery were recorded. The presence of acute tolerance was indicated as a positive slope of the linear regression of blood alcohol levels at recovery versus ethanol dose. Rapid tolerance was estimated on day 2 by comparing animals given ethanol only on day 2 with those given ethanol on both days.

RESULTS

Acute tolerance on day 1 only was observed at P26; this was disrupted by (+)MK-801 but not muscimol. Evidence for acute tolerance also emerged in adults on day 2. Whereas both drugs increased ethanol sedation at both ages, they did not facilitate ontogenetic expression of rapid tolerance: rapid tolerance was not evident at P26 regardless of pretreatment when indexed in terms of recovery time.

CONCLUSIONS

These data provide further evidence for an ontogenetic dissociation in the expression of acute and rapid tolerance to ethanol-induced sedation. Pharmacological attenuation of the expression of acute tolerance was sufficient but not necessary to delay recovery of righting after ethanol. The greater propensity of young animals to develop acute tolerance, seemingly modulated in part by NMDA receptors, may contribute to their relative resistance to ethanol, although other factors, including pharmacokinetic factors, also contribute to their more rapid recovery from ethanol sedation.

Differences in the social consequences of ethanol emerge during the course of adolescence in rats: Social facilitation, social inhibition, and anxiolysis

The present experiments explored social consequences of ethanol during adolescence by examining dose-dependent ethanol-induced social facilitation and inhibition in a non-anxiogenic (familiar) environment, and ethanol-related anxiolysis in an anxiogenic (unfamiliar) environment in early (P28) and late (P42) adolescent rats. Pronounced age-related differences in the social consequences of ethanol emerged during the course of adolescence, with early adolescents being uniquely sensitive to activating effects of low doses of ethanol when tested in the familiar context in terms of play fighting-an adolescent-characteristic form of social interactions, but conversely less sensitive than late adolescents to ethanol-associated social suppression when tested at higher ethanol doses in this context. Early adolescents were also less sensitive than late adolescents to the anxiolytic effects of ethanol revealed in the unfamiliar test situation, when indexed in terms of increases in social investigation and the ethanol-induced transformation of social avoidance into social preference. Anti-anxiety properties of ethanol were found to be sex-dependent in older animals, with late adolescent females being more sensitive to ethanol anxiolysis than their male counterparts. Considerable ontogenetic differences in the social consequences of ethanol are evident even within the adolescent period, with early adolescence being a time of particularly pronounced adolescent-typical sensitivities to ethanol.

The anesthetics nitrous oxide and ketamine are more neurotoxic to old than to young rat brain

Nitrous oxide (N2O) and ketamine are common general anesthetics and antagonists of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) glutamate receptors. In clinically relevant concentrations, they induce a psychotomimetic reaction in humans and pathomorphological changes in the rat brain. We have previously shown that ketamine and N2O in combination cause the neurotoxic reaction in young adult rat brain that is apparently synergistic. Ketamine and N2O are occasionally used in geriatric anesthesia since they do not suppress cardiorespiratory function and thus are beneficial for frail elderly patients. However, in view of the evidence that N2O and ketamine have potentially serious neurotoxic effects, and that they potentiate one another's neurotoxicity, their neurotoxic potential in the aging brain needs to be evaluated. In this study we compared the neurotoxicity of ketamine and N2O, alone or in combination, in aging (18- and 24-month-old) rats and in young adult (6-month-old) rats and found that the aging brain is substantially more sensitive than the young adult brain to the neurotoxic reaction induced by either ketamine alone or the ketamine + N2O combination, but equally sensitive to the neurotoxicity induced by N2O alone.

Adolescence: Booze, Brains, and Behavior

This article represents the proceedings of a symposium at the 2004 Research Society on Alcoholism meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, organized and chaired by Peter M. Monti and Fulton T. Crews. The presentations and presenters were (1) Introduction, by Peter M. Monti; (2) Adolescent Binge Drinking Causes Life-Long Changes in Brain, by Fulton T. Crews and Kim Nixon; (3) Functional Neuroimaging Studies in Human Adolescent Drinkers, by Susan F. Tapert; (4) Abnormal Emotional Reactivity as a Risk Factor for Alcoholism, by Robert Miranda, Jr.; (5) Alcohol-Induced Memory Impairments, Including Blackouts, and the Changing Adolescent Brain, by Aaron M. White and H. Scott Swartzwelder; and (6) Discussion, by Kenneth Sher.

Reduced [125I]-Bolton Hunter substance P binding (NK1 receptors) in the basal forebrain nuclei of aged rats

1. Quantitative autoradiography and homogenate radioligand binding of [125I]-Bolton Hunter substance P ([125I]-BHSP) were used to compare brain NK1 receptors in young (2 months) and aged (18-20 months) rats. 2. The autoradiographic distribution and density of [125I]-BHSP binding sites was similar in all cortical regions of young and aged rats. In contrast, the density of [125I]-BHSP binding sites was significantly (P < 0.05) lower in the basal forebrain nuclei (intermediate part of the lateral septal nuclei, medial septal nucleus and horizontal and vertical nuclei of the diagonal band) of aged rats. In all other brain regions examined, binding densities were almost identical in young and aged rats. 3. Because a population of NK1 receptors ([125I]-BHSP binding sites) in the basal forebrain nuclei is associated with cholinergic neurons, the decrease in NK1 receptors in aged rats may reflect degeneration of cholinergic neurons and contribute to the motor and cognitive deficiencies that occur with ageing.

NMDA receptor regulation of memory and behavior in humans

N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor hypofunction is associated with a range of effects on cognition and behavior in whole animal and human studies. NMDA receptor hypofunction within the brain, which can be induced experimentally in vivo using NMDA receptor antagonist drugs, produces adverse effects on memory function. The results suggest that NMDA receptor hypofunction can preferentially affect neural mechanisms regulating the efficiency of encoding and consolidation into longer-term storage. More pronounced NMDA receptor hypofunction can produce a clinical syndrome that includes core features of psychosis, as well as dissociation. Finally, sustained and severe underexcitation of NMDA receptors in the adult brain is associated with a neurotoxic process with well-characterized neuropathological features. Progressive increases in severity of NMDA receptor hypofunction within the brain can produce a range of effects on brain function, involving local and distributed circuitry, which may underlie the observed changes in behavior. As the brain ages, the NMDA receptor system becomes progressively hypofunctional, potentially contributing to further age-related decreases in memory and learning performance. Pharmacological and genomic methods for preventing NMDA receptor hypofunction, or for preventing the upstream or downstream consequences modeled by treatment with NMDA antagonists, may be applicable to the prevention and treatment of memory and behavioral dysfunction in a variety of neuropsychiatric disease conditions.

Receptor mechanisms and circuitry underlying NMDA antagonist neurotoxicity

NMDA glutamate receptor antagonists are used in clinical anesthesia, and are being developed as therapeutic agents for preventing neurodegeneration in stroke, epilepsy, and brain trauma. However, the ability of these agents to produce neurotoxicity in adult rats and psychosis in adult humans compromises their clinical usefulness. In addition, an NMDA receptor hypofunction (NRHypo) state might play a role in neurodegenerative and psychotic disorders, like Alzheimer's disease and schizophrenia. Thus, understanding the mechanism underlying NRHypo-induced neurotoxicity and psychosis could have significant clinically relevant benefits. NRHypo neurotoxicity can be prevented by several classes of agents (e.g. antimuscarinics, non-NMDA glutamate antagonists, and alpha(2) adrenergic agonists) suggesting that the mechanism of neurotoxicity is complex. In the present study a series of experiments was undertaken to more definitively define the receptors and complex neural circuitry underlying NRHypo neurotoxicity. Injection of either the muscarinic antagonist scopolamine or the non-NMDA antagonist NBQX directly into the cortex prevented NRHypo neurotoxicity. Clonidine, an alpha(2) adrenergic agonist, protected against the neurotoxicity when injected into the basal forebrain. The combined injection of muscarinic and non-NMDA Glu agonists reproduced the neurotoxic reaction. Based on these and other results, we conclude that the mechanism is indirect, and involves a complex network disturbance, whereby blockade of NMDA receptors on inhibitory neurons in multiple subcortical brain regions, disinhibits glutamatergic and cholinergic projections to the cerebral cortex. Simultaneous excitotoxic stimulation of muscarinic (m(3)) and glutamate (AMPA/kainate) receptors on cerebrocortical neurons appears to be the proximal mechanism by which the neurotoxic and psychotomimetic effects of NRHypo are mediated.

The glutamate synapse in neuropsychiatric disorders. Focus on schizophrenia and Alzheimer's disease

Here we have described a novel excitotoxic process in which hypofunctional NMDA receptors cease driving GABA ergic neurons which cease inhibiting excitatory transmitters in the brain. These disinhibited excitatory transmitters then act in concert to slowly hyperstimulate neurons in corticolimbic brain regions. We have discussed how such an abnormality could exist in the brains of individuals with schizophrenia or AD and could account for the clinical stigmata of the two disorders. In addition, we have highlighted how other disorder-specific factors would account for the differences in the clinical presentation of AD and schizophrenia. In an animal model, pharmacological methods have been developed for preventing the overstimulation of these vulnerable corticolimbic pyramidal neurons and at least some of these methods may be applicable for treating AD and schizophrenia.

Ontogeny of ethanol-induced locomotor activity and hypothermia differences in selectively bred FAST and SLOW mice

The replicate lines of selectively bred FAST and SLOW mice differ in locomotor response to 2 g/kg ethanol (EtOH). FAST mice show enhanced locomotion; SLOW mice exhibit no change or locomotor depression. Little is known about the responses of FAST and SLOW mice to EtOH during development. We assessed the locomotor responses of FAST and SLOW mice at postnatal days (P) 10, 15, 30, and 60. A genetically correlated response, EtOH-induced hypothermia, was also investigated. Although all animals demonstrated their respective selection phenotypes in adulthood, developing FAST mice exhibited ethanol stimulation by P15 (replicate 1) or P30 (replicate 2). At these ages, responses of FAST mice differed from those of SLOW. The stimulant response in FAST mice was adult-like at P30. EtOH-induced hypothermia was seen in SLOW mice by P15. These data suggest that sensitivity to the locomotor stimulant effects of EtOH changes during postnatal development, and may mirror developmental profiles for certain neurotransmitter systems.

Disseminated corticolimbic neuronal degeneration induced in rat brain by MK-801: potential relevance to Alzheimer's disease

Blockade of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) glutamate receptors by MK-801 induces neuronal degeneration in the posterior cingulate/retrosplenial cortex and other corticolimbic regions although damage in the latter has not been adequately characterized. This disseminated corticolimbic damage is of interest since NMDA hypofunction, the mechanism that triggers this neurodegenerative syndrome, has been postulated to play a role in the pathophysiology of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Several histological methods, including electron microscopy, were used to evaluate the neurotoxic changes in various corticolimbic regions of rat brain following MK-801 or a combination of MK-801 plus pilocarpine. We found that MK-801 triggers neuronal degeneration in a widespread pattern similar to that induced by phencyclidine and that females showed more damage than males. The neurotoxic reaction involved additional brain regions when muscarinic receptors were hyperactivated by administering pilocarpine with MK-801. Ultrastructural evaluation revealed that a major feature of the neurotoxic action involves degeneration of dendritic spines which entails loss of synaptic complexes. The ultrastructural appearance of degenerating neurons was generally inconsistent with an apoptotic mechanism, although evidence equivocally consistent with apoptosis was observed in some instances. The cell death process evolved relatively slowly and was still ongoing 7 days posttreatment. Relevance of these results to AD is discussed.

A reproducible model of circulatory arrest and remote resuscitation in rats for NMR investigation

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Because noninvasive physiological monitoring of cerebral blood flow, metabolic integrity, and brain ion and water homeostasis can now be accomplished with new, state-of-the-art MR spectroscopy and imaging techniques, it is appropriate to develop controllable and reproducible animal models that permit prolonged circulatory arrest and resuscitation in the magnet and also allow for studies of long-term survival and outcome. We have developed such a model in rats that involves minimal surgical preparations and can achieve resuscitation remotely within precisely controlled time.

METHODS

Cardiac arrest was induced by asphyxiation, the duration of which ranged from 8 to 24 minutes. Resuscitation was achieved remotely by a slow, intra-aortic infusion of oxygenated blood (withdrawn either from the same rat before asphyxia or from a healthy donor rat) along with a resuscitation cocktail containing heparin (50 U/100 g), sodium bicarbonate (0.1 mEq/100 g), and epinephrine (4 micrograms/100 g). The body temperature was measured by a tympanic thermocouple probe and was controlled either by a heating pad (constant tympanic temperature = 37 degrees C) or by warm ambient air (constant air temperature = 37 degrees C). Interleaved 31P/1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy was used in a selected group of rats to measure the cerebral metabolism before and during approximately 20 minutes of circulatory arrest and after resuscitation.

RESULTS

The overall success rate of resuscitation, irrespective of the duration of cardiac arrest, was 82% (51 of 62). With a programmed infusion pump, the success rate was even higher (95%). The survival time for rats subjected to 15 and 19 minutes of asphyxia with core temperature tightly controlled was significantly lower than that with ambient temperature control (P < 0.001 and P < 0.04, respectively). High-quality NMR spectra can be obtained continuously without interference from the resuscitation effort. Final histological examinations taken 5 days after resuscitation showed typical neuronal damages, similar to those found in other global ischemia models.

CONCLUSIONS

Because the no-flow time and resuscitation time can be precisely controlled, this outcome model is ideally suited for studies of ischemic and reperfusion injuries in the brain and possibly in other critical organs, permitting continuous assessment of long-term recovery and follow-up in the same animals.

Effects of thioacetamide-induced hepatic failure on the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor complex in the rat cerebral cortex, striatum, and hippocampus. Binding of different ligands and expression of receptor subunit mRNAs

Hepatic encephalopathy (HE) is characterized by symptoms pointing at disturbances in glutamatergic neurotransmission in the brain, particularly in the striatum. The binding parameters of ligands specific for different recognition sites in the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor complex and the distribution of the receptor subunit mRNAs (NR1, NR2A-D) were assessed in rats with acute HE induced with a hepatotoxin, thioacetamide (TAA). The binding of: 1. L-[3H]glutamate (NMDA-displaceable); 2. [3H]dizocilpine and N-(1-[2-thienyl]-cyclohexyl) [3H]piperidine ([3H]TCP); and 3. The coactivator site agonist [3H]glycine was assayed in purified membranes of the cerebral cortex, hippocampus, and striatum. In HE rats, Bmax of NMDA-displaceable glutamate binding was increased in the cerebral cortex and hippocampus, but slightly decreased in the striatum. In this region, the binding affinity was also slightly increased. In HE, Bmax of [3H]dizocilpine binding was unchanged in the striatum and cerebral cortex, but substantially decreased in the hippocampus. Pretreatment with phorbol ester enhanced the binding of dizocilpine more in HE than in control rats. Bmax of [3H]TCP binding was decreased in the cerebral cortex and striatum, but increased in the hippocampus. The different responses of these two phencyclidine site antagonists to HE may be indicative of a conformational change within the ion channel and/or the presence of microdomains reacting differently to extrinsic factors. HE did not affect glycine binding, but potentiated the maximal stimulation of [3H]dizocilpine binding by glycine in the cerebral cortex. The results emphasize the brain region and domain specificity of the responses of the NMDA receptor complex to HE.