The role of descending inhibition in the antinociceptive effects of the pyrazolone derivatives,metamizol (dipyrone) and aminophenazone (“Pyramidon”)

Summary The study was carried out to provide further evidence that the two pyrazolone derivatives, metamizol and aminophenazone, produce central antinociceptive effects by stimulating inhibition descending from the periaqueductal grey (PAG) to the spinal cord. Experiments were carried out on rats in which the tail-flick response to radiant heat, nociceptive activity in ascending axons of the spinal cord, and activity of neurones in the PAG and the substantia nigra were studied. Microinjection of procaine (10 g) into the PAG reduced the tail-flick latency and abolished the increase in latency caused by i.p. injection of metamizol (40 mg/kg) and aminophenazone (150 mg/kg); it did not significantly reduce the antinociceptive effect of i.p. injection of morphine (2 mg/kg). Threshold doses of morphine (1 and 2 g) administered by intrathecal (i.t.) injection potentiated the effect of threshold doses of metamizol injected i.p. (10 mg/ kg) or into the PAG (10 g) in the tail-flick test. Morphine (2 g) injected i.t. potentiated the effect of i.v. injection of metamizol (80 mg/kg) on nociceptive activity in ascending axons by eliminating the stimulant effect of metamizol on about one third of the axons. Threshold doses of morphine injected i.t. failed to potentiate the antinociceptive effect of aminophenazone (50 mg/kg) injected i.p. in the tail-flick test. The results support the view that metamizol and aminophenazone activate pathways descending from the PAG and exerting an inhibitory effect on nociceptive impulse transmission at the spinal level.Supported by the Schwerpunkt Nociception and Schmerz of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft Send offprint requests to I. Jurna at the above address     

Evidence against the involvement of serotonergic neurons in the anti-punishment activity of diazepam in the rat

The effects of manipulating central serotonergic transmission were assessed on the anti-punishment effects of diazepam (2 mg/kg IP) in rats. In a paradigm involving the inhibition of pressing for food induced by the delivery of a signal previously associated with electric foot-shocks, lesioning serotonergic neurons of the dorsal raphé with the neurotoxin 5,7-dihydroxytryptamine (5,7-DHT; 1 g in 0.4 l) neither affected behavioral inhibition in control rats nor modified the ability of diazepam to release responding. Furthermore, suppression of pressing for food induced by a fixed ratio 7 schedule of shock presentation was reduced by bilateral infusion of 5,7-DHT (2 g in 0.5 l) into the substantia nigra, but the ability of diazepam to increase punished responding was preserved. Finally, blockade of benzodiazepine-induced decrease in serotonin release by application of the benzodiazepine receptor antagonist Ro 15-1788 (10^–5–10^–4 M in 0.2 l) into the dorsal raphé did not alter the releasing effect of diazepam on suppression of pressing for food caused by a signal of punishment. At these concentrations. Ro 15-1788 was devoid of any effect on behavioral inhibition in control rats. Taken together, these results indicate that the anti-punishment activity of benzodiazepines can be dissociated from the reduction in tryptaminergic transmission produced by these drugs.     

Role of muscarinic cholinergic mechanisms in the substantia nigra pars reticulata in mediating muscular rigidity in rats

Summary Bethanechol chloride (5–25 g), when injected into the substantia nigra pars reticulata (SNR) of rats, produced muscular rigidity in a dose-dependent way, and in addition, catalepsy and ipsilateral posture. The effects of bethanechol in the dose of 25 g were prevented by coadministration of 10 g scopolamine hydrochloride. Injections of 25 g betanechol or 10 g scopolamine into the reticulata only slightly affected the muscular rigiditiy produced by 15 mg/kg i.p. morphine hydrochloride. The results suggest that muscarinic cholinergic mechanisms in the substantia nigra pars reticulata, although effective by themselves, affect by expression of at least one striatal functional alteration, the muscular rigidity, in a less effective way than GABAergic or endogenous opioid mechanisms do.     

Experimental study of serum substantia nigra neuron autoantibody and its effect in Parkinson disease patients

Parkinson disease(PD) is a neurodegenerativedisorder characterized by the loss of melanin-containing neurons in the substantia nigra parscompacta (SNpc ) and a reduction in striataldopamine.The cause of PD remains unknown,but itis related to genetic,environmentalfactors,etc.Someevidence[1] indicated that multiple mechanisms wereinvolved in the pathogenic procedure of PD,such asoxidative stress,susceptibility to neurotoxin,excitingamine acid toxicity,immune factorand apoptosis,etc.In immune …     

黑质的定态与定位研究

本文调查了41只整脑82个黑质的空间形态和位置。在三维切面上作2毫米厚的连续切片,获得资料:黑质的长径、宽径、高径;体积及“靶心”坐标值;通过还原、重建,绘出空间投影轮廓图;黑质为前后偏长、左右窄扁的薄片状灰质块,在脑内空间的整体构型是呈后倾倒内上斜外偏转态。     

Cholinergic stimulation of substantia nigra: abolition of carbachol-induced eating by unilateral 6-hydroxydopamine lesion of nigrostriatal dopamine neurones

Summary Microinjection of cholinergic agonists into the substantia nigra is known to elicit increases in eating, drinking and sexual behaviour under appropriate circumstances. It has been suggested that these effects are dependent on stimulation of nigrostriatal dopamine-containing neurones in the substantia nigra pars compacta, but no direct evidence has confirmed this. The present experiment was therefore undertaken to determine whether unilateral lesions of nigrostriatal dopamine neurones made by 6-hydroxydopamine would attenuate or abolish eating in satiated rats elicited by intranigral microinjection of the muscarinic agonist carbachol. Two groups of rats were tested: a 6-hydroxydopamine- and a sham-lesion group. Before lesions were made intranigral microinjection of 0.5 g/0.5 l carbachol stimulated significantly more eating than control microinjections in both groups. After 6-hydroxydopamine lesions, microinjection of carbachol elicited no more eating than vehicle alone. Rats given sham lesions (ascorbate-saline vehicle only) showed increased feeding to intra-nigral carbachol before and after sham-lesioning. Post-mortem analysis by HPLC was used to determine the concentration of dopamine, DOPAC, HVA, serotonin and 5-HIAA in the lesioned and nonlesioned hemispheres of both 6-hydroxydopamine- and sham-lesioned rats. In caudate-putamen there were significant reductions in the concentration of DA (to 50.03% of the level in control sides), DOPAC (to 49.34%) and HVA (to 63.98%) in the 6-hydroxydopamine-lesioned but not sham-lesioned rats. The concentration of dopamine, DOPAC and HVA were not affected in the nucleus accumbens. The turnover of dopamine (assessed by calculating the ratio of dopamine to DOPAC) in the caudateputamen but not nucleus accumbens was also altered by the 6-hydroxydopamine lesions. The concentration and turnover of serotonin was not affected in either the caudate-putamen or nucleus accumbens in either group of rats. These data show that loss of dopamine from the caudate-putamen but not nucleus accumbens is sufficient to abolish completely the eating stimulated by intranigral carbachol.     

γ-Hydroxybutyric acid (GHBA) induces pacemaker activity and inhibition of substantia nigra dopamine neurons by activating GABAB-receptors

Summary In the present study the actions of -hydroxybutyric acid (GHBA) on dopaminergic neurons in the rat substantia nigra (SN) were pharmacologically analysed utilising extracellular single unit recording techniques. Intravenous administration of GHBA was associated with several effects on the neuronal activity of nigral dopamine (DA) neurons. Low doses (<200 mg/kg) of GHBA produced a slight excitation of the neurons, concomitant with a regularised firing rhythm and lack of burst activity. In higher doses GHBA produced an even higher degree of regularisation but, in contrast to low doses, an inhibition of firing rate. Administration of the GABA_B-receptor agonist baclofen, in all essential respects, mimicked the effect of GHBA on the firing of nigral DA neurons. Both the regularisation of the firing pattern and inhibition of firing rate produced by systemic administration of GHBA were antagonised by the GABA_B-receptor antagonist CGP 35348 (200 mg/kg, i.v.).Our observations show that GHBA affects the firing pattern of nigral DA neurons in doses considerably lower than those required to inhibit the firing rate of the neurons. This action, as well as the decreased firing rate observed after high doses of GHBA, are mediated via activation of GABA_B-receptors. Correspondence to: G. Engberg at the above address     

Scanning electron microscopy analysis of the human zona pellucida: influence of maturity and fertilization on morphology and sperm binding pattern

Human oocytes from the same as well as from different patients have an extremely heterogeneous morphology of the zona pellucida surface as shown by scanning electron microscopy. For years it has been believed that this heterogeneous morphology plays an important part in the sperm-oocyte interaction. It was the aim of this investigation to analyse the morphology and the sperm binding patterns of the human zona pellucida. Oocytes were divided into four categories: mature, immature, fertilized and unfertilized. Four different types of zona morphology were detectable. They ranged from a porous, net-like structure to a nearly smooth and compact surface. No correlation could be established between zona type and oocyte maturity or zona type and achieved fertilization. However, fertilized (polyploid) oocytes had a more compact and smooth zona surface than unfertilized ones. The analysis of the number and distribution patterns of bound spermatozoa on the zona pellucida revealed extremely variable patterns regardless of the zona morphology. Significant differences between mature and immature oocytes did not appear. In both groups there were oocytes with either no or numerous bound spermatozoa on the zona pellucida. Oocytes overloaded with spermatozoa could only be found in the mature group. Unfertilized oocytes had fewer bound spermatozoa on average than polyploid zygotes.     

Glutamatergic inputs to midbrain dopaminergic neurons in primates

Anterograde tract-tracing and immunohistochemical methods were used to study projections from the pedunculopontine tegmental nucleus (PPN) to midbrain dopaminergic neurons in the squirrel monkey (Saimiri sciureus). The PPN harbored numerous cholinergic and glutamatergic neurons, as well as neurons that displayed both cholinergic and glutamatergic markers. Injections of anterograde tracer into the PPN led to intense fiber labeling in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc) and the ventral tegmental area (VTA). This pedunculonigral projection was partly bilateral. At the electron microscopic level, about 40–60% of the anterogradely labeled terminal boutons were glutamate-positive and formed asymmetric synapses with the dopaminergic neurons of the SNc–VTA complex. These data provide direct evidence for a pedunculonigral glutamatergic projection. This projection may play a crucial role in the control of the firing pattern of SNc–VTA dopaminergic neurons and could be involved in glutamate-mediated excitotoxicity that is believed to lead to SNc cell death in Parkinson's disease.     

Unilateral dopamine depletion paradoxically enhances amphetamine-induced Fos expression in basal ganglia output structures

The ability of amphetamine to induce expression of the immediate early gene protein, Fos, was examined by immunocytochemistry in animals with unilateral 6-hydroxydopamine lesions of the nigrostriatal bundle. Amphetamine induced Fos expression in the globus pallidus (GP) on the intact side of the brain, but this response was greatly attenuated on the dopamine-depleted side. In contrast, amphetamine induced little Fos expression in the entopeduncular nucleus (EPN) and the substantia nigra pars reticulata (SNpr) on the intact side of the brain, but resulted in pronounced expression in these structures on the lesioned side. These findings demonstrate that unilateral dopamine depletion results in a pathophysiological state in which some responses to amphetamine are attenuated while others are paradoxically potentiated. One explanation of these effects is that amphetamine may indirectly activate excitatory inputs to the SNpr and the EPN on both sides of the brain. On the intact side, these effects would be opposed by the simultaneous activation of inhibitory pathways arising in the striatum and the GP, with the result that little Fos expression would be seen. On the dopamine-depleted side, however, engagement of these inhibitory pathways would be attenuated and the unopposed effects of the excitatory inputs mobilized by amphetamine would result in exaggerated Fos synthesis.