Repeated administration of MK-801 produces sensitization to its own locomotor stimulant effects but blocks sensitization to amphetamine

Repeated amphetamine administration produced behavioral sensitization to subsequent amphetamine challenge. The development of sensitization was blocked by coadministration of the N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) antagonist MK-801. Conditioned locomotion, as revealed by saline challenge, was also blocked by MK-801, suggesting that behavioral sensitization and conditioned locomotion may share a requirement for NMDA receptor stimulation. Repeated MK-801 administration produced behavioral sensitization to MK-801 but not amphetamine challenge, suggesting that MK-801 itself produces sensitization through a different mechanism than amphetamine.     

Febrile seizures. From molecular biology to clinical practice

Febrile seizures occur between the age of 3 months and 5 years with a temperature of 38 degrees C or higher, and are either simple or complex. Eight gene loci have been identified to be associated with certain cases of autosomal dominant familial febrile seizures, and 12 genes have been associated with some of the familial epilepsy syndromes that can start with febrile seizures. The mutations and the protein products are known for only some of these 20 genes. The risk of recurrence of convulsions in a further febrile illness is on average 30%, and of developing epilepsy is on average 6%, but both vary depending on the presence and number of risk factors in any given patient. The immediate treatment of a febrile convulsion is intravenous or rectal diazepam, but febrile status epilepticus requires intravenous Phenobarbital and possibly other medications. Long-term antiepileptic drugs are not recommended in most patients with febrile seizures. However, exceptions should be considered on an individual basis in patients with complex febrile seizures with multiple risk factors for development of later epilepsy.     

Handheld impedance biosensor system using engineered proteinaceous receptors

We put forward an impedometric protein-based biosensor platform suitable for point-of-care diagnostics. A hand-held scale impedance reader system is described for the detection of corresponding physiochemical changes as the immobilized proteins bind to the analyte molecules in the proximity of the microfabricated electrodes. Specifically, we study the viability of this approach for glucose biosensing purposes using genetically engineered glucokinase as receptor proteins. The proposed reagent-less biosensor offers a high sensitivity of 0.5 mM glucose concentration level in the physiologically relevant range of 0.5 mM to 7.5 mM with less than 10 s response time.