An analysis of the paradoxical effect of morphine on runway speed and food consumption

A previously reported paradigm in which rats run down a runway for food reward followed by morphine injection was analyzed to assess the utility of the paradigm in studies of opiate reinforcement. One experiment replicated the original report that post-trial morphine caused both an increase in runway speed and a decrease in food consumption (taste aversion) over successive trials, and showed in addition that the increase in runway speed did not occur as a result of food deprivation alone, but required the animals to have consumed food in the goal box. A second study using the quaternary opiate antagonist methyl naltrexone to block the peripheral effects of morphine suggested that the increase in runway speed has a peripheral locus while the taste aversion has a central one. A third experiment in which morphine was microinjected into either the lateral ventricle or the ventral tegmental area supported these observations, in that intracranial morphine failed to result in an increased runway speed, but did produce taste aversion after microinjection into either site. These findings also suggest that the increase in runway speed caused by post-trial morphine in this experiment has a peripheral locus of effect, which is probably distinct from the central effect that supports morphine self-administration and conditioned place preference. Offprint requests to: W.A.CorrigallThe views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Addiction Research Foundation     

The surgical risk of colectomy in patients with cirrhosis

The records of 54 patients with documented cirrhosis who underwent colectomy between January 1970 and January 1984 were studied to assess the operative risk and to determine the preoperative predictive risk factors. In-hospital mortality was 24 percent (13 patients), and postoperative complications occurred in 48 percent (26 patients). The risk of surgical intervention was significantly increased if encephalopathy, ascites, anemia, or hypoalbuminemia was present before operation. A simple operative risk index involving the presence of encephalopathy and ascites and the levels of hemoglobin and albumin is proposed to help distinguish a low-risk subgroup in whom postoperative mortality was 12.8 percent from a high-risk subgroup in whom postoperative mortality was 53.3 percent.     

Detection of Bacteroides fragilis Enterotoxin Gene by PCR

Bacteroides fragilis constitutes about 1% of the bacterial flora in intestines of normal humans. Enterotoxigenic strains of B. fragilis have been associated with diarrheal diseases in humans and animals. The enterotoxin produced by these isolates induces fluid changes in ligated intestinal loops and an in vitro cytotoxic response in HT-29 cells. We developed a nested PCR to detect the enterotoxin gene of B. fragilis in stool specimens. After DNA extraction, a 367-bp fragment was amplified with two outer primers. The amplicon from this reaction was subjected to a second round of amplification with a set of internal primers. With these inner primers, a 290-bp DNA fragment was obtained which was confirmed as part of the B. fragilis enterotoxin gene by Southern blotting with a nonradioactive internal probe and a chemiluminescence system. By this approach, B. fragilis enterotoxin gene sequences were detected in eight known enterotoxigenic human isolates and nine enterotoxigenic horse isolates. No amplification products were obtained from DNA extracted from 28 nonenterotoxigenic B. fragilis isolates or B. distasonis, B. thetaiotaomicron, B. uniformis, B. ovatus, Escherichia coli, or Clostridium difficile. The sensitivity of this assay allowed us to detect as little as 1 pg of enterotoxin DNA sequences or 100 to 1,000 cells of enterotoxigenic B. fragilis/g of stool. Enterotoxin production of all isolates was confirmed in vitro in HT-29 cells. A 100% correlation was obtained between enterotoxin detection by cytotoxin assay and the nested PCR assay. This rapid and sensitive assay can be used to identify enterotoxigenic B. fragilis and may be used clinically to determine the role of B. fragilis in diarrheal diseases.     

Nociceptin (Orphanin FQ) abolishes gestational and ovarian sex steroid-induced antinociception and induces hyperalgesia

Nociceptin (Orphanin FQ) is a newly discovered endogenous heptadecapeptide substrate for the opioid-receptor-like 1 receptor, a G protein coupled receptor that bears striking amino acid sequence homology to opiate receptors. In rats, intrathecal (i.t.) administration of nociceptin is without effect on basal thresholds for responsiveness to electric foot shock. However, during either late gestation or its hormonal simulation, when nociceptive thresholds are elevated by approximately 70%, i.t. nociceptin substantially attenuates jump thresholds in a dose-dependent fashion. This hypoalgesic effect of nociceptin is not limited to attenuating the gestational or sex steroid-induced increment in pain thresholds. Following the highest i.t. dose of nociceptin employed (20 nmol), the gestational or sex steroid-induced increment in jump thresholds is not only abolished but a significant hyperalgesia is observed. These results underscore the importance of the hormonal milieu to nociceptin hypoalgesic sensitivity. The potential contribution of spinal nociceptive pathways that utilize nociceptin to the etiology of extraordinary painful pregnancy and labor should not be ignored.     

A preliminary statistical model for identifying repeaters of parasuicide

This paper presents a statistical model constructed using logisticregression to identify those at high-risk of repeating parasuicide. Thesubjects in the study are Cork city residents who exhibited parasuicidalbehaviour between 1 January and 30 June 1995. Repetition of the behaviourwithin six months of the index episode distinguishes repeaters fromnon-repeaters. The model was designed so that it could be used bynon-clinicians and hence does not require information relating topsychiatric diagnosis or use of psychiatric services. The proportion ofsubjects correctly classified remained stable across a range of cut-pointprobabilities (mean = 86%, range: 83.9–87.5%). Using acut-point of 0.2, 96% of repeaters and 81% of non-repeaters were correctly classified. Using 0.45 led to the correct identification of81% of repeaters and 90% of non-repeaters. If these highlevels of sensitivity and specificity are maintained in validation tests onfuture cohorts in Cork city then the model could form the basis of anintervention programme designed to prevent the repetition of parasuicide.