Influence of neonatal short-term reduction in brainstem alpha2A-adrenergic receptors on receptor ontogenesis, acoustic startle reflex, and prepulse inhibition in rats

Neonatal treatments can disrupt prepulse inhibition (PPI) of startle response later in life. Alpha2A-adrenergic receptors (alpha2A-ARs) regulate the release of brain neurotransmitters that may influence PPI. The authors examined the effects of short-term reduction in the neonatal brainstem alpha2A-ARs on subsequent development of this receptor system and acoustic startle reflex in rats. Administration of antisense oligodeoxynucleotide complementary to the alpha2A-ARs on Days 2-4 of life reduced receptor expression in the brainstem by Day 5. The treatment increased alpha2-AR numbers in the cortex, hippocampus, and amygdala at 40 days of age, and in cortex and hypothalamus at 90 days of age. Transient increases in hippocampal and amygdalar alpha2-ARs were accompanied by attenuation of acoustic startle response and impairment of PPI.     

Different effects of glucocorticoids on the density of β-adrenoreceptors in the lungs and cerebral cortex

Tissue specificity of the effect of glucocorticoids on the density of β-adrenoreceptors is shown. The hormone increases the number of receptors in the lungs, but has no effect on their density in the cerebral cortex either in the norm or after down-regulation. Translated fromByulleten' Eksperimental'noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 119, N ^o 3, pp. 328–330, March, 1995 Presented by V. A. Trufakin, Member of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences     

Intraoperative colonic sorption dialysis in colonic cancer complicated with colonic obstruction

The data on treatment 84 patients with large bowel carcinoma aggravated by occlusion ileus are discussed. The study group included 49 patients who received intraoperative sorption dialysis of large bowel (ISDLB). Intraoperative lavage of large bowel (ILLB) was given to 35 patients who were in control. A significantly higher detoxication effect of ISDLB was recorded by hematological and biochemical index dynamics analysis. Lethality dropped to 6% in the group receiving ISDLB (11%). The latter patients spent 15 +/- 4 days in hospital as compared to 25 +/- 4 days in control. The postoperative complication rates were 14 and 29%, respectively. ISDLB should be indicated in complex therapy of bowel carcinoma aggravated by occlusion ileus because of its cleansing effect which significantly reduces end-genuous intoxication.     

The Possibility of Using the ICR Mouse as an Animal Model to Assess Antimonkeypox Drug Efficacy

As a result of the conducted experimental studies on intranasal challenge of ICR mice, rabbits and miniature pigs (even in the maximum variant) with the doses of 4.0–5.5 lg PFU of monkeypox virus (MPXV), some clinical signs such as purulent conjunctivitis, blepharitis and ruffled fur were found only in mice. The 50% infective dose (_CID₅₀) of MPXV for these animals estimated by the presence of external clinical signs was 4.8 lg PFU, and _LID₅₀ estimated by the virus presence in the lungs of mice 7 days post‐infection taking into account its 10% application in the animal respiratory tract was 1.4 lg PFU. When studying the dynamics of MPXV propagation in mice challenged intranasally with 25 _LID₅₀ of MPXV, the maximum pathogen accumulation was revealed in nasal cavity, lungs and brain: 5.7 ± 0.1, 5.5 ± 0.1 and 5.3 ± 0.3 lg PFU/ml, respectively. The pathomorphological examination of these animals revealed the presence and replication of the pathogen in the traditional primary target cells for MPXV (mononuclear phagocyte system cells and respiratory tract epitheliocytes) as well as in some other types of cells (endothelial cells, reticular cells, connective tissue cells). Our use of these animals to assess the antiviral efficacy of some drugs demonstrated the agreement of the results (a significant positive effect of NIOCH‐14 and ST‐246) with those described in scientific literature, which opens up the prospects of using ICR mice as animal models for monkeypox to develop preventive antismallpox drugs.     

Antioxidant Properties of Glial Cell-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (GDNF)

Bulletin of Experimental Biology and Medicine - We propose an in vitro model of chronic oxidative stress based on the use of glucose oxidase. Oxidative stress modeling leads to a significant...