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Although previous in vivo electrophysiological studies demonstrated a consistent ethanol enhancement of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) responsiveness from substantia nigra reticulata (SNR) neurons, ethanol applied in vitro to dissociated neurons from the SNR had an inconsistent effect on GABA function. One source for the disparity between these contrasting in vivo and in vitro results could be an endogenous factor (acting on an auxiliary site on GABA(A) receptors) that was not available to the isolated SNR neurons. Because neurosteroids are present in vivo and act on an auxiliary site, it was hypothesized that the presence of a neurosteroid was important for a consistent effect of ethanol on GABA responsiveness from neurons studied in vitro. Alone, the neurosteroid analog alphaxalone produced a significant, concentration-related enhancement of GABA responsiveness from isolated SNR neurons. In contrast to an inconsistent action of 100 mM ethanol on GABA responsiveness in the absence of alphaxalone, the presence of 30 and 100 nM alphaxalone resulted in the majority of isolated neurons responding to this ethanol level. At a concentration of alphaxalone as low as 30 nM, ethanol produced a robust concentration-related increase in GABA-gated currents from this cell type. The neurosteroid 3alpha, 5alpha-tetrahydrodeoxycorticosterone (100 nM) also permitted a reliable concentration-dependent ethanol enhancement of responses to GABA from SNR cells, indicative that the effects of alphaxalone were not unique. This consistent neurosteroid-induced ethanol enhancement of GABA responsiveness from dissociated SNR neurons supports the view that neurosteroids may play a key role in the action of ethanol on postsynaptic GABA(A) receptor function.

Hypersecretion of cortisol occurs in numerous patients with major depression and normalizes with clinical recovery during the course of chronic antidepressant treatment. These clinical data suggest that investigation of the effects of antidepressant treatments on the regulation of the brain-pituitary-adrenal axis may assist in elucidating the therapeutic basis of antidepressant actions. In the present investigation, both swim stress and acute fluoxetine challenge increased release of corticosterone and progesterone to reflect an activation of the brain pituitary-adrenal axis. The effects of chronic antidepressant treatment (21 days) on corticosterone and progesterone secretion induced by these challenges were investigated. Chronic fluoxetine treatment (5 mg/kg/day) completely blocked the increased secretion of corticosterone and progesterone in response to the acute fluoxetine challenge. Chronic treatment with desipramine, imipramine or amytriptyline (15 mg/kg/day) also markedly attenuated fluoxetine-induced corticosterone and progesterone secretion. However, chronic treatment with the monoamine oxidase inhibitors, phenelzine (5 mg/kg) and tranylcypromine (5 mg/kg), did not affect this hormonal response to acute fluoxetine challenge. Plasma levels of fluoxetine after acute challenge were not significantly different for the various chronic antidepressant treatment conditions from the chronic saline controls; therefore, an increase in the metabolism of fluoxetine can not explain the antagonism of the fluoxetine-induced hormonal response after chronic antidepressant treatment. In contrast to the effects of selected antidepressants on acute fluoxetine-induced steroid release, chronic treatment with imipramine (20 mg/kg/day), fluoxetine (5 mg/kg/day) or phenelzine (5 mg/kg) did not significantly alter this swim stress-induced corticosterone or progesterone secretion. Because chronic fluoxetine and tricyclic antidepressant drugs blocked the acute action of fluoxetine to increase adrenal cortical secretion, but did not alter swim stress-induced secretion of these steroids, we propose that distinct neurochemical mechanisms control fluoxetine and swim stress-induced steroid release. We speculate that the substantial adaptive response to those chronic antidepressant treatments, which minimize the effect of acute fluoxetine challenge to increase in corticosterone and progesterone secretion, may be relevant to the therapeutic actions of these drugs.

An extracellular electrophysiological approach was used to determine the effect of ethanol on responses to N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) across several brain regions in urethane-anesthetized rats. The results indicated that, in most brain regions, ethanol inhibited the NMDA-induced increases in firing rate for some, but not all, spontaneously active neurons. Ethanol functioned as an NMDA antagonist for some neurons in the medial septum, red nucleus, deep mesencephalic nucleus, substantia nigra reticulata, ventral tegmental area and cerebellum. In the hippocampus, ethanol inhibited NMDA responses from all neurons. However, ethanol was not found to be active against NMDA responses in the lateral septum, suggesting that there is a degree of regional specificity for ethanol inhibition of NMDA responses. It was then established in unanesthetized rats that ethanol also antagonized responses to NMDA in some, but not all, neurons in the medial septum and cortex, indicating that the differential action of ethanol on NMDA responses obtained in the urethane-anesthetized rats was not due to the anesthetic. Based on an earlier study showing that the effects of ifenprodil and ethanol on NMDA responses were correlated, the ability of ethanol to inhibit NMDA responses was compared with changes produced by ifenprodil on the same neurons, where ethanol did or did not affect NMDA responses. In the several brain regions investigated, ethanol inhibited NMDA responses in a subgroup of neurons in which ifenprodil inhibited NMDA-induced increases in firing. For all neurons investigated, if a cell was insensitive to ifenprodil antagonism of NMDA responses then ethanol also was ineffective against the response to NMDA. These results suggest that ethanol acts on an ifenprodil-sensitive NMDA receptor subtype. Given that previous investigations have suggested that the NMDA receptor type 2B subunit is essential for the action of ifenprodil, the positive relationship between the actions of ifenprodil and ethanol on responses to NMDA is consistent with the hypothesis that the combination of specific receptor subunits forming an NMDA receptor on a neuron determines the ability of ethanol to antagonize an NMDA response.

Autoradiographic analysis of 14C-2-deoxyglucose (2-DG) uptake and immunocytochemical assessment of Fos-like immunoreactivity (Fos-LI) were used to assess swim stress-induced changes in metabolic activity in brain and to define the effect of chronic treatment with antidepressants from different pharmacological classes. Saline-treated rats processed in the forced swim test exhibited marked increases in Fos-LI in limbic cortical regions, lateral septum, medial amygdala and paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVN). Uptake of 2-DG was increased by swim stress in some of the same brain regions where Fos-LI was induced, with the notable exception of a lack of a change in the PVN. Rats received injections for 3 wk with imipramine, desipramine, fluoxetine, nisoxetine, tranylcypromine or mianserin before being processed in the forced swim test. Chronic treatment with imipramine and desipramine alone induced Fos-LI in the central nucleus of the amygdala and the dorsolateral bed nucleus of the stria terminalis. After tranylcypromine treatment, Fos-LI was induced in many brain regions including limbic cortex, amygdala and paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus. None of the other antidepressants induced Fos-LI in any brain region examined. Chronic administration of imipramine, desipramine and nisoxetine antagonized the swim induced expression of Fos-LI in the PVN and in limbic cortical regions, including the medial prefrontal ventrolateral orbital and cingulate cortices. Chronic treatment with fluoxetine, tranylcypromine and mianserin did not alter swim stress-induced Fos-LI in any brain region. Thus, only antidepressant drugs that affect norepinephrine uptake (i.e., imipramine, desipramine and nisoxetine) antagonized swim stress-induced Fos-LI. In contrast to the action of chronic imipramine on Fos-LI induced by swim, chronic administration of imipramine did not antagonize the stress-induced changes in 2-DG uptake in limbic cortical regions. Acute administration of propranolol, which blocks beta-adrenergic receptors, reduced the number of cells staining for Fos-LI in limbic cortical regions, resembling the effects produced by chronic imipramine, desipramine and nisoxetine. In the PVN, neither propranolol nor prazosin (an alpha 1 antagonist) blocked the swim-induced Fos-LI, suggesting that swim-induced Fos-LI in the PVN is not under control of beta- or alpha 1-adrenergic receptors. These latter results imply that adaptation of noradrenergic receptors by chronic imipramine may not be related to the antagonism of stress-induced Fos-LI. The clear functional differences of the various antidepressant agents on swim stress-induced Fos-LI after chronic administration provide a functional classification of antidepressant drug action not previously identified.

Neuronal responses to drugs acting on nicotinic cholinergic receptors (nAChRs) were examined in the rat medial septal area by using an in vivo extracellular single-unit recording technique. In the medial septal area, iontophorectically applied nicotine inhibited neuronal activity in 45% of the neurons, but had no effect on the remaining neurons. Dihydro-beta-erythroidine application to neurons in the medial septal area not only blocked nicotine-induced inhibition, but also reduced spontaneous neuronal activity of the neurons. When Mg++ was applied iontophoretically to block presynaptic neurotransmitter release, a significant reduction in spontaneous neural activity also was observed. No further reduction of spontaneous activity by dihydro-beta-erythroidine occurred in the presence of Mg++, suggesting an apparent tonic excitatory input to the majority of neurons in the medial septal area under the control of presynaptic nAChRs. Mg++ abolished the nicotine-induced inhibition in the medial septal area without having an effect on nicotine-induced inhibition in the cerebellum. Thus, these data provide evidence that the inhibitory effects of nicotine in the medial septum are due to an action on presynaptic nAChRs, controlling the release of an inhibitory neurotransmitter. Of the medial septal neurons which showed no response to nicotine, nicotine produced excitation in 21% of the cells after Mg++ application, indicating that nicotine can have a direct action on postsynaptic nAChRs, in addition to its presynaptic action, in the medial septum. Finally, application of the gamma-aminobutyric acid antagonist bicuculline reduced the nicotine-induced inhibition on the majority of medial septal neurons tested, but was without effect on the inhibition produced by nicotine on cerebellar Purkinje neurons. Consequently, it can be concluded that the nicotine-induced inhibition in the medial septum is the result of gamma-aminobutyric acid release due to its action on presynaptic nAChRs present on gamma-aminobutyric acid-containing terminals.

Previous investigations have suggested a relationship between zolpidem binding within specific brain regions and the ability of ethanol or zolpidem to enhance gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)-induced inhibition. The purpose of the present study was to extend our electrophysiological analysis to additional brain sites with high levels of zolpidem binding. In the brain regions chosen, red nucleus and globus pallidus, GABA-induced inhibition was shown to be enhanced by either ethanol or zolpidem on some, but not all, neurons. These findings led to the hypothesis that the effect of zolpidem on GABA-induced inhibition would predict the action of ethanol on responses to GABA for that neuron. When zolpidem and ethanol were applied individually to the same neurons in the red nucleus and globus pallidus, those neurons sensitive to zolpidem enhancement of GABA also were sensitive to ethanol. Conversely, if zolpidem did not enhance responses to GABA, ethanol did not enhance responses to GABA at these brain sites. A similar relationship between the abilities of zolpidem and ethanol to enhance GABA-induced inhibition was obtained in 90% of the neurons studied in the medial septum/diagonal band and ventral pallidum. These studies provide further support for the contention that the zolpidem-sensitive GABAA-benzodiazepine isoreceptor also responds to ethanol. Finally, the expression of GABAA subunit mRNAs was analyzed by polymerase chain reaction from micropunches of several brain regions that contain zolpidem binding sites and exhibit sensitivity to ethanol. Polymerase chain reaction analysis proved more sensitive than in situ hybridization in the detection of receptor subunit mRNAs. Several subunits (alpha 1, alpha 2, alpha 3, beta 2, beta 3 and gamma 2) were common to all brain regions in which ethanol and zolpidem enhanced GABA responses. GABAA receptor alpha 4/5, alpha 6, beta 1, gamma 1, gamma 3 and delta subunits were not consistently expressed in association with the presence of zolpidem binding. These data are consistent with the view that one native GABAA receptor to which zolpidem binds, and on which ethanol acts, contains the GABAA receptor subunits alpha 1, beta 2 and gamma 2; however, the present investigation did not preclude the possibility that other subunit combinations can contribute to ethanol and zolpidem enhancement of responses to GABA.

The time course of beta adrenergic receptor adaptation in response to chronic imipramine treatment (10 or 20 mg/kg) was assessed by quantitative autoradiographic analysis of 125I-pindolol binding in rat brain. Binding of the radioligand was assessed in 18 brain areas, including subregions of the hippocampus, amygdala, septum, hypothalamus and specific cerebral cortical regions. After only 2 days treatment with imipramine at a dose of 20 mg/kg, select cortical regions exhibited a reduction in 125I-pindolol binding. These rapidly adapting cortical regions included the medial prefrontal, lateral frontal, ventrolateral orbital and piriform cortices. After 7 or 21 days treatment with imipramine at 20 mg/kg, 16 of 18 brain regions examined exhibited significant reduction in 125I-pindolol binding. The only regions examined that did not show reduced 125I-pindolol binding for these treatment conditions were the caudate-putamen and anterior hypothalamic area. After 2 days treatment with 10 mg/kg of imipramine, down-regulation of beta adrenergic receptors was not observed in any region. After 7 days treatment with 10 mg/kg, down-regulation of beta adrenergic receptor binding was found only in certain cortical regions: medial prefrontal, lateral frontal, ventrolateral orbital and piriform cortices. Thus, the cortical regions that were most rapidly affected with the 20 mg/kg dose of imipramine (i.e., after 2 days) were also the first to respond with the 10 mg/kg dose of the drug. After 21 days treatment with imipramine at 10 mg/kg, 125I-pindolol binding was reduced in 13 of the 18 regions examined.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

The present investigation provides evidence that there is neuroanatomical specificity for ethanol enhancement of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)-induced inhibition in mammalian brain and that the expression of a specific GABAA isoreceptor is associated with this regional action of ethanol. Ethanol enhanced responses to iontophoretically applied GABA in the medial septum, inferior colliculus, substantia nigra reticulata, ventral pallidum and the diagonal band of Broca. In contrast to these results, responses to GABA applied to cells in the lateral septum, ventral tegmental area and the hippocampus were not affected by ethanol. In those brain regions where ethanol enhanced responses to GABA, a high concentration of zolpidem binding was found, whereas zolpidem binding was much lower or absent in brain regions where ethanol did not enhance GABA. These observations support the hypothesis that ethanol enhances GABA within specific regions of brain by affecting a GABAA receptor with specific structural components. From data obtained with in situ hybridization, there was a strong relationship between the regional distribution of zolpidem binding and the expression of specific mRNAs for the alpha-1, beta-2 and gamma-2 GABAA receptor subunits at sites where ethanol enhanced responses to GABA. The mRNA for the long and short variants of the gamma-2 subunit were found in brain regions both sensitive and insensitive to the action of ethanol on GABA-induced inhibition. These data were not able to address whether the gamma-2 long variant in combination with the alpha-1 and beta-2 subunits is essential for ethanol enhancement of responses to GABA. However, the observation that the long version of the gamma-2 subunit is present in brain areas where ethanol did not affect GABA function suggests that the presence of the long variant of the gamma-2 subunit alone is not sufficient for ethanol's action to enhance responses to GABA. Rather it is concluded that the appropriate combination of GABAA receptor subunits is critical for this action of ethanol. Because the GABAA receptor belongs to a superfamily of ligand-gated ion channels, the action of ethanol was examined on responses to agonists acting on receptors linked to other ion channels. As noted for GABA, local application of ethanol altered responses to NMDA, nicotine and glycine when applied to some, but not all, neurons.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Behavioral activation following systemic administration of the N-methyl-D-aspartic acid receptor antagonist MK-801 [(+)-5-methyl-10,11-dihydroxy-5H-dibenzo(a,d) cyclohepten-5,10-imine; dizocilpine] was examined in unlesioned control and in neonatal-6-hydroxydopamine (OHDA) lesioned rats. Neonatal-6-OHDA lesioned animals were found more sensitive than control rats and female rats more sensitive than males to this MK-801-induced behavioral activation. CGS-19755, a competitive NMDA antagonist, also increased activity in neonatally lesioned animals. The increased activity level following MK-801 administration to neonatally lesioned rats was reduced, but not eliminated, by pretreatment with alpha-methyltyrosine, indicating that endogenous catecholamines were partially responsible for this action of MK-801. Furthermore, neither a D1- nor a D2-dopamine antagonist was totally effective alone in reducing MK-801-induced behavioral activation in the neonatally lesioned rats, but MK-801-induced activity was reduced to the level observed after alpha-methyltyrosine when both dopamine antagonists were administered in combination. In contrast to these results, alpha-methyltyrosine virtually eliminated the MK-801-induced activity in adult-lesioned rats. When individual behaviors induced by MK-801 were examined in neonatal-6-OHDA lesioned rats, MK-801 did not produce the same behaviors as L-dihydroxyphenylalanine or a D1- or D2-dopamine agonist. Whereas MK-801 had no major effect on most behaviors induced by specific D1- or D2-dopamine agonists, it blocked some behaviors produced after L-dihydroxyphenylalanine administration, including the self-injurious behavior. Repeated MK-801 treatment resulted in increasingly greater motor activity, but this was not related to increased D1-dopamine receptor sensitization. In support of a regional action of MK-801, MK-801 induced c-fos-like immunoreactivity in the cerebral cortex, but not in the nucleus accumbens or striatum. The action of MK-801 to increase c-fos-like immunoreactivity in cerebral cortex was reduced, but not blocked, by SCH-23390. Additionally, MK-801 reduced, but did not eliminate, D1-dopamine agonist induced c-fos-like immunoreactivity in striatum. These data suggest that MK-801 not only can facilitate dopamine release within specific brain regions, but has behavioral and functional actions distinct from dopamine agonists.

Lesioning of neonatal rats with the neurotoxin 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) reduced striatal dopamine (DA) levels to 3% of control levels and produced marked increases in the behavioral effects of the selective D1-DA receptor agonist SKF-38393 in these animals when tested as adults. However, no differences were observed, either in basal or D1-DA-stimulated striatal cAMP formation or in forskolin-stimulated or GTP-stimulated cAMP production, between control and lesioned animals. C-fos-like immunoreactivity after SKF-38393 was significantly greater in dorsolateral vs. ventromedial aspects of the striatum in lesioned animals. Like the c-fos response, augmented electrophysiological responsiveness to SKF-38393 occurred in lesioned rats in lateral, but not medial, portions of the striatum. No differences were found in nucleus accumbens in sensitivity to SKF-38393 between control and lesioned rats. Although autoradiographic determination of D1-DA receptor binding throughout the striatum and nucleus accumbens revealed no differences between unlesioned and lesioned rats, tyrosine hydroxylase-like immunoreactivity was reduced with a regional distribution inversely related to c-fos-like immunohistochemical expression. These findings demonstrate that regionally enhanced electrophysiological sensitivity of striatal neurons to D1-DA receptor agonists after neonatal 6-OHDA-induced lesions is associated with regional changes in c-fos-like immunoreactivity and tyrosine hydroxylase-like immunohistochemistry, but not with changes in D1-DA receptor autoradiography or D1-DA-stimulated adenylyl cyclase activity. Such regional consequences of 6-OHDA-induced lesions in neonates may contribute to the unique behavioral patterns observed when these rats are challenged with L-dopa or D1-DA agonists as adults.

Administration of the selective D1-dopamine receptor agonist 2,3,4,5-tetrahydro-7,8-dihydroxy-1-phenyl-1H-3-benzazepine (SKF-38393) to neonatal 6-hydroxydopamine-lesioned rats results in profound behavioral manifestations and induction of striatal c-fos-like immunoreactivity. The full D1-dopamine agonist I,[R,S]1-aminomethyl-3,4-dihydro-5,6-dihydroxy-3-phenyl-1H-2-benzopyran hydrochloride (A-68930), like SKF-38393, produced a dose-dependent, D1-selective increase in locomotor activity and striatal c-fos-like immunoreactivity. These responses were antagonized by a D1-dopamine antagonist, but not by a D2-dopamine antagonist. A-68930 produced locomotor activation at a lower dose than SKF-38393, but no dose of A-68930 was able to produce the magnitude of locomotor activation seen with SKF-38393. Both A-68930 and SKF-38393 induced similar stereotyped behaviors and possessed similar propensities to induce self-injurious behavior in neonatally lesioned rats; however, A-68930 was significantly more potent than SKF-38393 in inducing these behaviors. When either SKF-38393 or A-68930 were administered repeatedly at 2-week intervals, behavioral sensitization (priming) occurred. However, unlike SKF-38393, a high dose of A-68930 produced seizure activity and markedly desensitized D1-dopamine receptor activation for up to 3 days after administration. These results with A-68930 provide additional evidence that the specific behavioral and biochemical responses observed in neonatally lesioned rats after SKF-38393 administration are due to actions on D1-dopamine receptors, and indicate that A-68930 provides a new tool for investigating D1-dopamine receptor function.

The effect of ethanol on gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)-mediated inhibition of neurons of the inferior collicular cortex (IC) was investigated. Systemic administration of 0.5 g/kg ethanol, but not 0.25 g/kg ethanol, potentiated the inhibitory effect of GABA on IC neuronal activity. As with systemic administration of ethanol, local application of two concentrations of ethanol potentiated, in a dose-dependent and concentration-dependent manner, GABA-mediated inhibition of IC activity. When utilizing the lower ethanol concentration (270 mM), increasing ethanol ejection currents produced a correspondingly greater amount of augmentation of GABA inhibition without concomitant changes in spontaneous neural activity. At the highest ejection current tested (90 nA), ethanol doubled the inhibitory effects of GABA on IC neuronal activity. Local application of a higher concentration of ethanol (2.7 M) also potentiated GABA-mediated inhibition, with greater ejection currents producing greater potentiation of GABA-inhibition. Compared to the lower ethanol concentration, the higher ethanol concentration required lower ejection currents to produce comparable amounts of potentiation of GABA inhibition. These findings demonstrate that ethanol potentiates GABA inhibition of IC activity via a local action. In contrast to the effects of ethanol on GABA inhibition, locally applied ethanol failed to potentiate the inhibition by glycine of IC activity, indicating that ethanol does not indiscriminately potentiate all types of inhibition of IC neural activity. Additionally, locally applied ethanol failed to potentiate inhibition by GABA in the lateral septum, indicating that ethanol/GABA interactions are site specific. These findings indicate that ethanol specifically potentiates GABA-mediated inhibition of neural activity, and that this action occurs via a local action at specific sites in brain.

Recent studies have demonstrated that ethanol blocks N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) responses in vitro. In the present study, evidence is provided that ethanol, when administered by the systemic route to rats, also inhibits NMDA-evoked electrophysiological activity in vivo at behaviorally relevant doses. Ethanol, at doses in rats ranging from those producing minimal changes in spontaneous behavioral activity (0.75 g/kg) to those producing marked suppression of behavioral activity (2.5 g/kg), produced a dose-dependent inhibition of the ability of NMDA, when iontophoresed onto neurons of the medial septum (MS), to activate MS neurons. However, at all doses of ethanol tested, a proportion of MS neurons responded to ethanol with essentially complete inhibition of NMDA-evoked activity, whereas other MS neurons responded to ethanol with little or no inhibition of NMDA-evoked activity. By way of comparison, MK-801, a non-competitive NMDA antagonist, antagonized NMDA-evoked activity in all MS neurons tested. In contrast to the actions of ethanol, MK-801 increased, rather than decreased, behavioral activity even at doses that completely inhibited NMDA-evoked activity in all MS neurons tested. These latter findings provide evidence that inhibition of NMDA-evoked activity cannot account for all of the behavioral effects of ethanol. In conclusion, while the present results demonstrate for the first time that ethanol can inhibit NMDA-evoked neuronal activity in vivo, they also indicate that additional neural actions must contribute to ethanol's pharmacological profile.

Because of uncertainty concerning the interaction of ethanol with gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) receptor-mediated events, the present work was designed to investigate the effect of ethanol on GABA transmission in the rat septal area using behavioral and electrophysiological techniques. Microinjection of the GABAA agonist muscimol into the medial septal area (MSA) enhanced, and bicuculline administration antagonized, ethanol-induced impairment of the aerial righting reflex. Microinjection of these drugs into the lateral septum (LSi) did not influence this measure of ethanol-induced sedation. Furthermore, intraseptal injections of muscimol or bicuculline in saline-treated rats had no effect on the aerial righting reflex. These data suggest that the MSA plays a critical modulatory role in the sedative actions of ethanol. To assess the effect of ethanol on muscimol responses in the MSA and LSi at the cellular level, GABA was applied by iontophoresis to rhythmically bursting neurons of the MSA and to cells in the LSi. The magnitude of the resultant inhibition by GABA on these cells was assessed before and after systemic administration of ethanol. Ethanol enhanced GABA-mediated inhibition of MSA neural activity, but did not alter GABA-mediated inhibition of cellular activity in the LSi. In contrast, the inhibition of cellular activity in the MSA, caused by a maximally effective concentration of the benzodiazepine flurazepam, was not altered by ethanol. Other work in the MSA demonstrated that electrical stimulation of the fimbria caused an inhibition of ongoing single unit activity that was reduced by concurrent application of bicuculline. The duration of this electrically elicited inhibition in the MSA was enhanced after ethanol injection and then recovered to base-line levels. In addition, ethanol (1.5 mg/kg) caused an enhancement of the inhibition induced by nipecotic acid, a GABA uptake inhibitor. These findings demonstrate that GABA-mediated neural inhibition is enhanced by ethanol in the MSA but not the LSi, indicating that the actions of ethanol on GABA-induced inhibition can be site specific. It is proposed that the cellular action of ethanol may depend upon a specific molecular composition of the GABA receptor complex which may vary at selected sites in the brain.

Evidence is provided in this manuscript that ethanol acts directly on neurons in the medial septal area (MSA). Initially, the electrophysiological characteristics of MSA neurons in freely moving rats were characterized and found similar to that observed in rats anesthetized with urethane, but not chloral hydrate. Therefore, urethane was used to evaluate the effects of ethanol in anesthetized rats. The conclusion that ethanol influences neural function in the MSA is based on electrophysiological data that ethanol (0.75-3.0 g/kg i.p.) suppresses neural firing of medial septal cells in urethane-anesthetized as well as in unanesthetized rats in a dose-related fashion. Concurrent with the suppression of firing rate, the rhythmic bursting pattern of activity of MSA neurons is disrupted by ethanol. The changes observed in the MSA could not be attributed to an indirect action of ethanol on afferents from the lateral septum to the MSA, because ethanol did not alter neural activity of cells in the lateral septum. These data indicate that ethanol does not have a common action on all neurons. Neural activity in the MSA recovered from the acute action of ethanol at a time when blood ethanol levels were near maximal, indicating an acute tolerance to this effect of ethanol. The time course of change in neural activity in the MSA was highly correlated with the time course of a measure of behavioral sedation, but not the hypothermia produced by ethanol. Thus, the work in this manuscript supports the view that ethanol has selective actions on MSA neurons in the rat septal area and that these actions may influence the behavioral sedation induced by ethanol.

The intent of the present series of experiments was to better understand the events that produce a rapid adaptation of beta adrenergic and serotonin-2 (5-HT2) receptors when imipramine treatment and forced swim are combined in Sprague-Dawley rats. Beta adrenergic and 5-HT2 receptors were evaluated at specific stages of the forced swim test with and without imipramine treatment. Rapid changes in receptor binding were observed in saline-treated rats during specific stages of the test. The changes observed during forced swim could not be attributed to the transport-novelty that occurs during forced swim. Binding for both monoamine receptors was reduced in hippocampus and frontal cortex before the test swim in imipramine-treated rats as they were 10 min, 3 hr and 24 hr after the test swim. The increase in corticosterone induced by the second forced swim was not altered by imipramine, indicating that imipramine was not interfering with this measure of the stress response. In the Fisher-344 rat strain, imipramine did not produce a behavioral change during the test swim. In contrast to this lack of a behavioral change in the Fischer-344 rats, beta adrenergic and 5-HT2 receptor down-regulation was facilitated in this rat strain, similar to that found in imipramine-treated Sprague-Dawley rats subjected to swim. This latter finding suggests that beta adrenergic or 5-HT2 receptor adaptation alone is insufficient to cause an imipramine-induced behavioral change in the swim test. Studies with specific norepinephrine- and serotonin-uptake inhibitors, nisoxetine and fluoxetine, respectively, indicate that the behavioral effects of imipramine in the forced swim test are dependent upon norepinephrine uptake inhibition.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

The benzazepine compound SCH-12679 has been shown to have clinical efficacy against aggressive behavior in mentally deficient patients. The purpose of the present investigation was to evaluate the potential mechanism of action of SCH-12679. Because of the structural similarity of SCH-12679 to compounds influencing D1-dopamine receptors, even though in vitro studies indicated no direct action on this receptor, investigations focused on the possibility that in vivo SCH-12679 antagonizes the function of this dopamine receptor subtype. After i.p. administration to neonatal-6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA)-lesioned rats, SCH-12679 reduced, dose-dependently, the locomotor activity induced by SKF-38393, a D1-dopamine agonist. A dose of SCH-12679 that antagonized the activity induced by SKF-38393 in neonatally lesioned rats also blocked various behaviors observed after administration of this D1-dopamine agonist. SCH-12679 did not alter the activity or behavioral responses induced by quinpirole, a D2-dopamine agonist, when administered to 6-OHDA-lesioned rats. SCH-12679 antagonized the self-mutilation behavior and behavioral responses induced by L-dihydroxyphenylalanine in neonatal-6-OHDA lesioned rats in a manner similar to the prototypic D1-dopamine antagonist SCH-23390 and, like SCH-23390, produced a deficit in avoidance responding in unlesioned rats. SCH-12679 produced a small, transient activation of locomotor activity immediately after administration to neonatal-6-OHDA-lesioned rats that was not observed in unlesioned or adult-6-OHDA-lesioned rats.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Rats were administered threo-dl-methylphenidate (MPH) i.v., i.p. and p.o. A gas chromatography-mass spectrometry method incorporating deuterated internal standards was used to quantify MPH and the metabolite threo-dl-p-hydroxymethylphenidate (HOMPH). Accumulation and decay of MPH were evaluated in serum and brain to assess whether serum MPH correlated with brain content. HOMPH was quantified to appraise its contribution to the central action of MPH. MPH accumulated in the brain at a concentration of 3.75 microgram/g tissue within 1 min after i.v. injection of 1 mg/kg, and averaged 8 times the concentration in serum over the first 30 min. The steady-state volume of distribution was 1.47 liters/kg. The decay of MPH from brain and serum occurred biphasically with postdistribution (beta) T1/2 values of 20 and 50 min, respectively. After p.o. administration (1 mg/kg), brain MPH concentrations also exceeded those in serum. HOMPH was detected only in liver and kidney after 1 mg/kg MPH (i.v. and p.o.). Thirty minutes after 20 mg/kg of MPH (i.p.), MPH accumulated in kidney greater than lung greater than brain greater than heart greater than liver. Brain MPH concentration was 900 times that of HOMPH (0.02 microgram/g) after this dose. In liver, conjugated HOMPH was present (12.1 microgram/g). After i.v. administration of HOMPH, less localization occurred in brain than occurred for MPH. These data suggest that the central effects of MPH do not depend upon conversion to HOMPH.

Using a model in which seizure activity was elicited electrically from the inferior colliculus, the influence of both inhibitory and excitatory putative neurotransmitter amino acids on this seizure activity was assessed by manipulating neurotransmitter amino acid function. It was found that i.c.v. administration of the inhibitory amino acids taurine (2.5 micrograms) or glycine (30 micrograms), or the gamma-aminobutyric acidA agonist, muscimol (300 ng), significantly elevated the threshold current necessary to initiate seizure activity from the inferior collicular cortex. Similarly, the microinjection of muscimol (10 or 30 ng) or racemic baclofen (20 or 60 ng), a gamma-aminobutyric acidB agonist, into the inferior collicular cortex significantly elevated the seizure threshold current, but inferior collicular microinjections of taurine (1 microgram) or glycine (1 microgram) exerted no effect on the seizure threshold current. When excitatory amino acid influences were assessed on seizure production, neither ventricular administration of glutamate or aspartate (100 micrograms) nor inferior collicular administration of glutamate (1 or 10 micrograms) or aspartate (10 micrograms) changed the seizure initiation threshold. Although the site administration of 30 or 100 ng of N-methyl-D-aspartic acid did not alter the seizure initiation threshold, 300 ng of N-methyl-D-aspartic acid significantly lowered the amount of electrical stimulation necessary to elicit the seizure activity. Conversely, blockade of N-methyl-D-aspartic acid receptors in the inferior colliculus with L-3-amino-7-phosphonoheptanoic acid (100 ng) or gamma-glutamylglycine (200 ng) significantly elevated the threshold current for seizure production, whereas microinjection of DL-3-amino-phosphonobutyric acid (200 ng) or glutamic acid diethyl ester (1 microgram) had no effect.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Lesch-Nyhan syndrome involves disorders of both purine and dopamine metabolism. Neonatal lesioning of dopaminergic neurons with 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) has been proposed as a rodent model of the dopamine deficiency in this childhood disorder. In the present studies, the functional interaction between purines and dopamine was examined in adult rats which received 6-OHDA lesions either as neonates or as adults. Even though dopamine levels were decreased by at least 92%, both neonatal- and adult-6-OHDA-lesioned rats had normal hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase function and purine nucleotide levels (adenosine, ADP, ATP and AMP), indicating that hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase is not localized only to dopaminergic neurons in striatum. However, the 6-OHDA-lesioned animals were supersensitive to the locomotor activating effects of the adenosine antagonist, theophylline, with the response being greater in adult-6-OHDA-lesioned rats. This effect was presynaptic to dopaminergic neurons as indicated by alpha-methyltyrosine blockade of the theophylline response and its reinstatement by L-dopa. The presynaptic nature of this action of theophylline was supported further by a lack of interaction between theophylline and the direct acting D1- and D2-dopamine agonists, SKF-38393 and LY-171555, respectively. After systemic administration of SKF-38393 or L-dopa, central microinjection of the adenosine agonists, 2-chloroadenosine or 5'-N-ethylcarboxamide adenosine, were effective in preventing self mutilation induced by these dopamine agonists in neonatally lesioned rats. Relative potencies of the adenosine agonists for A1 and A2-adenosine receptors suggested involvement of an A2-adenosine receptor in this action.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

The pharmacokinetics and bioavailability of methylphenidate (MPH) and a metabolite, ritalinic acid (RA), were studied in normal adults, children with hyperactivity, monkeys and rats. Adult males received 0.15 or 0.3 mg/kg of MPH orally and MPH and RA were analyzed in plasma samples obtained at various times after treatment. Maximal MPH concentrations in plasma were found to occur 2.2 hr after administration of either dose (range: 1.0-4.0). The mean (+/-S.E.) maximal concentration in plasma for MPH was 3.5 +/- 0.4 ng/ml after 0.15 mg/kg and 7.8 +/- 0.8 ng/ml after 0.3 mg/kg. MPH clearances were high (10.1 liters/hr/kg) and variable (range: 3.6-23.2) for the 0.3 mg/kg dose. Pharmacokinetic parameters for children receiving 0.3 mg/kg were essentially the same as for adults. RA plasma levels were 50 to 100 times greater than MPH levels in normal adults. The clearance of RA is less than that of MPH. The absolute bioavailability of MPH was found to be 0.19 in the rat and 0.22 in the monkey, suggesting substantial presystemic elimination of MPH.

Experiments were conducted to determine if the actions of antidepressant drugs in a pharmacological screen would be localized to specific brain regions. Rats were infused in discrete brain regions with drugs of different pharmacological properties and processed in the forced swim test. Infusion of imipramine and pargyline into the amygdala produced behavioral responses similar to i.p. injections of the drugs. The regions of the amygdala from which positive responses could be elicited were highly selective. From cannula placements and diffusion studies with autoradiography it appears that a locus of action of imipramine and pargyline is confined to the central, basolateral and/or lateral nuclear regions of the amygdala. Behavioral responses of rats in which imipramine was infused into the anterior amygdala or caudate-putamen did not differ from saline controls. When infused into regions of the amygdala in which imipramine was active, iprindole, an "atypical" antidepressant, did not produce a behavioral response in the forced swim test. Two "false positives" in the forced swim test, atropine and amphetamine, were also not active when infused into the amygdala. These results indicate that the amygdala is a critical site of action for certain antidepressant drugs in the forced swim test, and that behavioral activation in the test induced by iprindole, amphetamine and atropine involve brain regions other than the amygdala.

Intracisternal (i.c.) injection of neurotensin (NT) to rats or mice attenuated the locomotor hyperactivity induced by d-amphetamine, methylphenidate or cocaine, but not the increased activity induced by apomorphine or lergotrile. The reduction of methylphenidate-induced locomotor activity by i.c. NT was not due to an increased drug metabolism because i.c. NT did not change plasma methylphenidate concentrations. These actions of NT are distinct from those of the dopamine receptor antagonist haloperidol, which blocked the locomotor hyperactivity induced by all five stimulant drugs in rats. A further difference between NT and neuroleptics was demonstrated by the observation that i.c. NT did not block apomorphine-induced stereotypic behavior. In vitro, NT did not displace [3H]spiperone from its binding sites in homogenates of either the striatum or nucleus accumbens from rat brain. Moreover, i.c. injection of NT did not alter the subsequent in vitro binding of [3H]spiperone to membranes of the nucleus accumbens or striatum. In addition, NT did not alter basal or dopamine-stimulated adenylate cyclase activity in homogenates of the nucleus accumbens or striatum. However, i.c. injection of NT produced a significant increase in the concentrations of homovanillic acid, a major dopamine metabolite, in the nucleus accumbens, olfactory tubercles and striatum. In addition, the concentration of dihydroxyphenylacetic acid was increased in the nucleus accumbens and olfactory tubercles after i.c. NT. Peripheral injection of haloperidol produced qualitatively similar effects on dopamine metabolism, but the effects of haloperidol, unlike those of i.c. NT, were attenuated by apomorphine injection. Taken together, these data indicate that centrally administered NT affects certain brain dopamine systems without interacting directly with those dopamine receptors labeled by [3H]spiperone, coupled to adenylate cyclase or mediating the pharmacological effects of apomorphine.

Thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH), administered intraperitoneally, was found to antagonize ethanol-induced sleep and hypothermia in mice without affecting brain ethanol content. This reduction of the actions of ethanol was also apparent after oral or intracisternal administration of TRH. In addition, TRH reduced ethanol-induced sleep in rats, hamsters, gerbils and guinea pigs. Evidence that the pituitary-thyroid axis is not necessary for the effects of TRH was provided by observations that hypophysectomy did not reduce TRH antagonism of ethanol narcosis and findings that neither triiodothyronine nor thyrotropin mimicked its action. Certain analogs of TRH, which have little effect on the pituitary, were also found to antagonize ethanol-induced sleep and hypothermia. Pretreatment with the antiadrenergic drugs, alpha-methyltyrosine, phentolamine and propranolol did not antagonize the ability of TRH to reduce sleep induced by ethanol. However, after intracisternal administration of atropine methyl nitrate, TRH no longer caused a significant reduction of sleep, even though TRH antagonism of the ethanol-induced hypothermia was still apparent. In contrast, central administration of other anticholinergic drugs, such as delta-tobocurarine and hexamethonium, reduced ethanol-induced sleep and this effect was additive with TRH. Carbachol also reduced ethanol sleeping time and this effect was also blocked by atropine methyl nitrate. The antagonism of ethanol-induced sleep by dibutyryl cyclic adenosine 3', 5'-monophosphate was significantly reduced but not blocked by atropine methyl nitrate. Results provide evidence that TRH has a direct extrapituitary action on brain and that both TRH and ethanol may interact with central cholinergic systems.

Administration of L-dopa or apomorphine to neonatal and adult 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA)-treated rats resulted in different behavioral responses depending on the age at which dopaminergic fibers were destroyed. When neonatal 6-OHDA-treated rats were tested as adults, they exhibited marked stereotypies, self-biting and self-mutilation behavior (SMB) when given these dopamine agonists. Self-biting as well as the incidence of SMB in neonatal 6-OHDA-treated rats showed dose-related changes between 10 and 100 mg/kg of L-dopa. This SMB and self-biting after L-dopa was observed as early as 22 to 24 days of age. Adult 6-OHDA-treated rats did not exhibit SMB or self-biting to L-dopa (100 mg/kg) or apomorphine (10 mg/kg), but did display paw treading and head nodding--behaviors not observed in neonatal 6-OHDA-treated rats. In addition, the locomotor response to apomorphine (1 mg/kg) was significantly greater in adult 6-OHDA-treated rats than in neonatal 6-OHDA-treated rats. Brain dopamine was reduced markedly in striatum, nucleus accumbens and olfactory tubercles in both 6-OHDA treatment groups with the reduction being slightly greater in rats treated with 6-OHDA neonatally. Serotonin content was elevated in striatum of rats treated neonatally with 6-OHDA, but not in adult 6-OHDA-treated rats. SMB and behaviors observed after L-dopa in rats treated neonatally with 6-OHDA were not apparent after L-dopa in rats with brain serotonin or norepinephrine reduced. Rats with brain dopaminergic fibers destroyed neonatally exhibited self-biting and SMB after L-dopa, suggesting that neonatal reduction of this amine is responsible for the SMB and self-biting in neonatal 6-OHDA-treated rats. 5-Hydroxytryptophan administration to neonatal 6-OHDA-treated rats did not induce SMB, indicating that release of serotonin by L-dopa is not responsible for this behavior. Because inhibition of dopamine-beta-hydroxylase did not alter the SMB response to L-dopa observed in neonatal 6-OHDA-treated rats, norepinephrine synthesized from L-dopa does not appear to contribute to the response. High doses of a decarboxylase inhibitor sufficient to inhibit conversion of dopa to dopamine in brain did not reduce the incidence of SMB. Administration of haloperidol (1 mg/kg) reduced the incidence of SMB, but did not antagonize the self-biting or the taffy pulling exhibited by L-dopa. In contrast, cisflupentixol completely blocked the SMB and self-biting induced by L-dopa.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Induction of anesthesia with pentobarbital (40 mg/kg), urethane (1.8 g/kg), chloral hydrate (400 mg/kg) or ketamine (150 mg/kg) followed by a 20-min sham implantation of a bipolar electrode in substantia nigra fibers caused a marked, ipsilateral increase in caudate dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DO-PAC). Conversely, no sham stimulation was found after gamma-butyrolactone (500 mg/kg) anesthesia or in a paralyzed, artificially respired preparation. By using gamma-butyrolactone anesthesia, the nigrostriatal fibers were electrically stimulated (25 Hz, 1.5 msec duration) at differing current intensities (40, 80, 100, 120 and 180 microA). The maximum increase in caudate DOPAC occurred at 120 microA. Electrical stimulation (100 microA, 25 Hz, 1.5 msec duration) in the paralyzed preparation yielded similar increases in caudate DOPAC. By using a 50% effective current (100 microA), variation of the frequency (5, 10, 25 and 125 Hz) produced a maximum in caudate DOPAC at 10 Hz. These data reveal an interaction between many anesthetics and physical disruption of dopaminergic neurons, as well as provide an in vivo model of stimulus-dependent dopamine release.

SCH23390 is a dopamine antagonist which has a high affinity for D1-like dopaminergic receptors. Receptor binding studies demonstrated significant levels of specific SCH23390 binding within nigral tissue. Therefore, electrophysiological experiments were conducted to determine if this antagonist influenced apomorphine-induced suppressions of unit firing recorded from dopaminergic cells of the substantia nigra zona compacta. Results presented in this report indicate that the autoreceptors located on dendrites and cell bodies of dopamine-containing neurons are not directly acted upon by SCH23390. This conclusion is drawn because: doses of SCH23390 known to block behaviors caused by dopamine agonists were ineffective in blocking rate reductions produced by apomorphine and pretreatment with 0.1 mg/kg of SCH23390 did not change the apomorphine dose-response curve for inhibition of dopaminergic neurons. Consistent with this finding, microinjections of SCH23390 into the zona compacta did not alter apomorphine-induced behaviors which are known to be blocked by haloperidol (a D2-like antagonist) intranigral injections. However, when only the larger apomorphine doses (64 and 128 micrograms/kg i.v.) are considered, SCH23390 pretreatment did attenuate the maximum response to apomorphine in some nigral cells. Because larger apomorphine concentrations alter striatal activity, such results may be reflective of alterations in a subpopulation of nigral neurons which are postsynaptic to neurons containing D1-like receptors and located elsewhere in the brain (e.g., in striatum). Collectively, these results agree with previous studies which suggest that dopamine receptors located on dopamine-containing neurons of the substantia nigra zona compacta are likely not of the D1-type.

The antidopaminergic properties of thioridazine (THD) and its major metabolites were evaluated using in vitro and in vivo estimates of dopaminergic function. THD-2-sulfone was more potent than, and THD-2-sulfoxide equipotent to, THD in displacing [3]spiperone from rat striatal membranes and in inhibiting dopamine-stimulated cyclic adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate synthesis in rat striatal homogenates. Other major THD metabolites were relatively inactive. These in vitro data suggest that THD, THD-2-sulfone and THD-2-sulfoxide are potent dopamine receptor blocking agents. Intraperitoneally administered THD antagonized amphetamine-induced locomotion and also increased the concentration of the dopamine metabolites 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC) and homovanillic acid (HVA) in terminals of the nigrostriatal dopamine system. Conversely, THD administered i.c.v. into conscious animals, did not antagonize amphetamine-induced locomotion nor increase brain regional concentrations of DOPAC or HVA. On the other hand, the i.c.v. administration of THD-2-sulfone and THD-2-sulfoxide dose-dependently inhibited amphetamine-induced locomotion and also increased the concentrations of HVA and/or DOPAC in the striatum and olfactory tubercles. These apparently discrepant in vitro and in vivo data suggest that the biotransformation of THD is a major determinant in those actions of THD attributed to a blockade of dopamine receptors in the central nervous system.

The role of the inferior colliculus and GABAeric transmission within this structure in the development of susceptibility to sound-induced seizures in ethanol-dependent rats was examined. Ethanol-dependent rats with bilateral electrolytic lesions which destroyed approximately 50.0 +/- 6.4% of the inferior colliculus failed to exhibit susceptibility to sound-induced seizures. However, comparable medial geniculate body lesions (82.7 +/- 2.7% complete) did not alter wild running, slightly reduced tonus and actually increased clonus susceptibility in rats treated similarly with ethanol. As reported previously, bilateral injection of either muscimol (43-263 pmol/site) or racemic baclofen (520-1580 pmol/site) into the inferior colliculus also suppressed seizure susceptibility. Other studies in ethanol-naive animals found that bilateral microinfusion of (+)-bicuculline methiodide (2 or 20 pmol/min for up to 5 min) into the inferior colliculus induced wild running and clonus closely resembling sound-induced seizure responses in ethanol-dependent rats. Although similar microinjections of (+)-bicuculline methiodide (0.4 pmol/min for 5 min) into the inferior colliculus did not induce seizure activity directly, an increased susceptibility to sound-induced seizures was observed. Electrolytic lesions of the medial geniculate body did not block wild running responses induced by (+)-bicuculline methiodide, but slightly reduced clonus. Five-minute infusions of picrotoxin (200 pmol/min), Ro5-3663 (2000 pmol/min), kainic acid (20 or 200 pmol/min), strychnine (2000 pmol/min) or carbachol 2000 pmol/min) into the inferior colliculus of ethanol-naive rats all induced bicuculline-like seizures. Seizures induced by bicuculline methiodide, picrotoxin or Ro5-3663 occurred within 5 min after the start of infusions.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Direct or indirect pharmacological manipulation of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) receptor activity was examined in relation to the motor incoordinating actions of ethanol in the rat. Ethanol (1.13-3.0 g/kg i.p.) caused a dose-dependent increase in the height of aerial righting. This motor impairment was increased selectively by intracisternal injection of the GABA agonists muscimol (0.10 microgram), 4,5,6,7-tetrahydroisoxazole(5,4-c) pyridin(3-ol) (1.0 microgram) and GABA (1000 micrograms). The GABA antagonist, bicuculline (1.0 and 5.0 micrograms intracisternally), reduced impairment. Thus, direct manipulation of GABA receptor activity modulated motor incoordination caused by ethanol. In addition, indirect-acting GABA-mimetics, such as gamma-acetylenic GABA (100 mg/kg i.p.), aminooxyacetic acid (50 mg/kg i.p.), ethanolamine-O-sulfate (250 mg/kg i.p.) and L-2,4-diaminobutyric acid (600 mg/kg i.p.) all potentiated the increase in the height of aerial righting caused by ethanol treatment. Failure of ethanol to modify the binding of [3H]muscimol to cerebral cortical membranes in vitro suggested there was no direct competition for GABA binding sites or facilitation of the binding of GABA to these sites by ethanol. Also, no simple relationship was observed between the degree of motor impairment caused by either ethanol or gamma-acetylenic GABA and changes in GABA concentration in three brain areas. Although GABAergic neurons may be involved in the mechanism underlying ethanol-induced depression of motor coordination, the interaction does not involve a direct activation of GABA receptors by ethanol.

Behavioral responses to D1 and D2-dopamine agonists are enhanced when these agonists are administered systemically to 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA)-lesioned rats. In the present investigation, microinjection of SKF-38393, a D1-dopamine agonist, into the nucleus accumbens of adult rats lesioned as neonates with 6-OHDA produced a dose-related increase in locomotor activity that was enhanced markedly compared to control. LY-171555, a D2-agonist, elicited less locomotor activity than did SKF-38393 after microinjection into this site. Administration of SKF-38393 or LY-171555 into the nucleus accumbens did not increase locomotion in unlesioned rats at the doses administered to lesioned animals. In adult-6-OHDA-lesioned rats, microinjection of SKF-38393 into the nucleus accumbens also increased locomotion more than did LY-171555. As described previously, systemic administration of SKF-38393 produced little locomotion in adult-6-OHDA-lesioned rats, whereas LY-171555 produced a markedly enhanced response. Administration of SKF-38393 or LY-171555 into the caudate nucleus of neonatally and adult-6-OHDA-lesioned rats produced negligible locomotor activity, but did induce stereotypic behaviors similar to those observed after systemic treatment with these drugs. Stereotypic behaviors occurred to a greater degree in the 6-OHDA-lesioned rats than in unlesioned controls. A regional specificity for certain behaviors induced by dopamine agonist administration was observed. In spite of the enhanced behavioral responses of D1 and D2-dopamine agonists after microinjection into the brain of 6-OHDA-lesioned rats, binding of [3H]spiperone (D2-receptor antagonist ligand) and [3H]SCH 23390 (D1-receptor antagonist ligand) to tissue from striatum and nucleus accumbens was not altered significantly. In contrast to this lack of change in binding characteristics in 6-OHDA-lesioned rats, blockade of dopaminergic transmission with haloperidol treatment caused an elevation of [3H]spiperone binding sites in striatum without affecting affinity for the site. However, chronic haloperidol treatment did not alter significantly [3H]SCH 23390 binding to striatal membranes. These latter findings suggest that chronic dopamine receptor blockade need not produce the same adaptive mechanisms as destruction of dopamine-containing neurons. Thus, a change in receptor characteristics as measured by dopamine antagonist binding does not account for the behavioral supersensitivity observed after D1- and D2-dopamine agonist administration to neonatally or adult-6-OHDA-treated rats.

Ethanol-induced sedation in Sprague-Dawley rats was antagonized by intracisternally administered thyrotropin releasing hormone (TRH) at a dose as low as 1 microgram. Furthermore, when a dose of 25 micrograms or greater of TRH was combined with ethanol doses above 2 g/kg, the locomotor activity was significantly greater than observed for TRH alone. A dose-related increase in activity was observed when varying doses of ethanol were administered with a constant dose of TRH (100 micrograms). This increase in locomotion induced by the TRH-ethanol combination could not be attributed to a change in TRH concentration, ethanol distribution or to a pituitary action of TRH. Inasmuch as tert-butanol in combination with TRH produced the same effects as ethanol, the hyperactivity does not appear to be associated with acetaldehyde formation. TRH acid and His-Pro-diketopiperazine, metabolites of TRH, did not produce hyperactivity when administered with ethanol, whereas MK-771, a TRH analog, produced a significant increase in locomotion in ethanol-treated rats greater than that for MK-771 alone. Three lines of evidence suggested that the hyperactivity induced by the TRH-ethanol combination could not be attributed to an influence of ethanol on the stimulant effects of TRH. First, pentobarbital- and chlordiazepoxide-induced depression of locomotion was antagonized by TRH (100 micrograms) but, unlike ethanol, locomotor stimulation greater than that for TRH was not observed. Second, behavioral observations did not reveal ethanol altering any effects of TRH that would compete with locomotion.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

The hypothesis that behavioral responses to antidepressant drugs in the forced swim test are related to a rapid neural adaptation produced by the combination of drug treatment and swim stress was explored. As a measure of adaptation, brain beta adrenergic receptors were assayed using [3H]dihydroalprenolol [( 3H]DHA) binding to brain membranes from rats that were processed in the forced swim test. The combination of swim stress and imipramine treatment antagonized immobility induced by forced swimming and resulted in a reduction in [3H] DHA binding to membranes from forebrain preparations which did not include the corpus striatum. Administration of antidepressant drugs from other chemical classes, including pargyline, iprindole and nomifensine, also reduced immobility induced by the forced swim and produced a reduction in [3H]DHA binding to forebrain membranes. In homogenates of the corpus striatum, [3H]DHA binding was not altered by swim stress combined with antidepressant drug treatment. Chlordiazepoxide was without an effect on immobility or beta receptor binding when combined with forced swim. Even though atropine and amphetamine exhibited a positive activity in the forced swim test, they did not reduce [3H]DHA binding. Therefore, by combining behavioral and neurochemical analysis of animals processed in the forced swim test, it may be possible to differentiate, with greater confidence, potential antidepressant drugs from "false positives." The present studies support the hypothesis that antidepressant drug action in the forced swim test involves a rapid neural adaptation as reflected by the down regulation of beta adrenergic receptors. Thus, this behavioral paradigm may serve as a model of adaptive mechanisms induced by antidepressant drugs.

The relative anticonvulsant potential of the gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) agonist, muscimol, was compared after microinjection into either the inferior colliculus, substantia nigra or medial septum of ethanol-dependent rats. Bilateral microinjection of muscimol (10-30 ng) into the inferior colliculus 15 to 60 min before testing suppressed all sound-induced seizure components (wild running, clonus and tonus) in rats withdrawn from ethanol for 6.5 to 8.5 hr. However, forelimb tremors were not altered. Audiogenic seizures were suppressed for at least 3 hr after muscimol (30 ng). In the medial septum and substantia nigra, microinjection of muscimol (30-100 ng) only partially reduced the tonic component of audiogenic seizures and exerted no effect on the frequency of wild running or clonus. GABA (10 micrograms) and two other GABA agonists [4,5,6,7-tetrahydroisoxazolo[5, 40c]pyridin-3-ol (THIP), 300 ng and chlordiazepoxide, 10-30 micrograms], microinjected into the inferior colliculus, also reduced audiogenic seizure susceptibility. However, 1, 3-butanediol, which suppresses ethanol withdrawal seizures after peripheral administration in rats, was inactive. The relative proconvulsant potential of the GABA antagonist, bicuculline methiodide, also was compared after microinjection into either the inferior colliculus, substantia nigra or medial septum of ethanol naive rats. In each animal, audiogenic seizure-like wild running, clonus and tonus were evoked by microinjecting bicuculline methiodide into the inferior colliculus at the rate of 6.0 ng/6 min. However, these reactions did not occur when bicuculline methiodide was applied at a slower rate (1.8 ng/6 min).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

The down-regulation of beta adrenergic receptors by chronic imipramine treatment was investigated with high resolution autoradiography of [125I]pindolol binding to brain sections. Neuroanatomically selective down-regulation of [125I]pindolol binding was found after chronic imipramine treatment. Subdivisions of the amygdala and hippocampus and discrete cortical regions were differentially affected. In the hippocampus, reduction of [125I]pindolol binding was observed in imipramine-treated rats in the CA-1 stratum radiatum and dentate molecular layer, but not in the CA-3 stratum radiatum. In the amygdala, the basolateral nucleus exhibited reduced [125I]pindolol binding after imipramine treatment but the central and medial nuclei were not affected. Chronic imipramine treatment was also associated with reduced [125I]pindolol binding in layer 1 of the cingulate cortex and layer 3 of the piriform cortex. In contrast, no effect on [125I]pindolol binding was apparent in the ventrolateral thalamic nucleus, caudate-putamen, lateral hypothalamus or layers 2 and 3 of the somatosensory cortex. In order to determine if regional variation in binding sites for imipramine, or its pharmacologically active metabolite desipramine, was responsible for the observed neuroanatomically selective reduction in [125I]pindolol binding, the binding of [3H]imipramine and [3H]desipramine was investigated. In some brain regions that exhibited high densities of [3H]imipramine and [3H]desipramine binding sites, [125I]pindolol binding was reduced after chronic treatment with imipramine. However, other regions that contained high densities of binding sites for antidepressant drugs did not show a reduction in [125I]pindolol binding after chronic imipramine treatment. Thus, regional binding of [3H]imipramine or [3H]desipramine cannot fully explain the neuroanatomical specificity of imipramine-induced beta adrenergic receptor down-regulation.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

The present investigation supports the hypothesis that functionally supersensitive D-1 dopamine receptors are involved in the self-mutilation behavior (SMB) induced by L-dihydroxyphenylalanine (L-dopa) in rats treated neonatally with 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA). This conclusion is based upon 1) the antagonism of this behavior by SCH-23390, a D-1 antagonist; 2) induction of SMB in neonatal-6-OHDA-treated rats by the D-1 agonist, SKF-38393; 3) the high correlation of the supersensitive locomotor responses to the D-1 agonist with the occurrence of L-dopa-induced SMB; and 4) the inability of the D-2 agonist, LY-171555, to induce SMB in rats treated neonatally with 6-OHDA. The specificity of SCH-23390 and SKF-38393 for the D-1 dopamine receptor was supported by the absence of action of SCH-23390 against locomotor activities induced by LY-171555 and its blockade of SKF-38393-induced locomotion in 6-OHDA-treated rats. Behavioral responses to D-1 and D-2 agonists did not show the same profile in adult and neonatally 6-OHDA-treated rats, providing further support for the view that the age at which dopaminergic neurons are destroyed has differing effects on motor output. Many of the behaviors observed when the D-2 dopamine receptor was activated by LY-171555 were apparent after SKF-38393 in neonatally 6-OHDA-treated rats. Similar behavioral responses to the D-1 and D-2 agonists were also observed in adult 6-OHDA-treated rats.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

In the present investigation, experiments were performed in order to determine whether antidepressants are capable of inducing regionally specific adaptation of beta adrenergic and 5-hydroxytryptamine2 (5-HT2) receptors after chronic administration or when combined with the forced swim test. The drugs tested were imipramine, amitriptyline, pargyline and nomifensine. The regional pattern of beta adrenergic or 5-HT2 receptor binding changes induced after chronic treatment with these antidepressants was not uniform. All of the drugs reduced [3H]dihydroalprenolol binding to cortical membranes after chronic treatment but only two, imipramine and pargyline, did so in hippocampus. All of the antidepressants reduced cortical, but not hippocampal, beta adrenergic receptor binding after 2 days of treatment, indicating that the rate of antidepressant-induced neural adaptation is regionally specific. All of the drugs, except nomifensine, induced down regulation of both cortical and hippocampal 5-HT2 receptors after chronic treatment, as measured by [3H]ketanserin binding. The forced swim test accelerated the reduction of [3H] dihydroalprenolol binding in hippocampus induced by imipramine and pargyline while producing no further effect on cortical beta adrenergic receptors. The down-regulation of hippocampal, but not cortical 5-HT2 receptors by imipramine and pargyline was also facilitated in rats processed in the forced swim test. These results provide further support for the view that the forced swim antidepressant drug screen may be of heuristic value as a model of the adaptive neural mechanisms that accompany chronic antidepressant drug treatment. Furthermore, these data provide evidence that multiple neural mechanisms may be involved in the adaptive changes after antidepressant drug treatment.

In the present investigation, the neuropharmacology of 1,3 butanediol (1,3-BD) was compared with that of ethanol. Acute i.p. administration of equimolar doses of 1,3-BD or ethanol to rats impaired the aerial righting reflex, attenuated the suppressive effect of punishment on drinking behavior, lowered blood pressure, caused a concomitant reduction in the content of guanosine 3',5'-monophosphate in the cerebellum and reduced ethanol withdrawal reactions. Although these data suggested that ethanol and 2,3-BD were of similar potency, the brain content of 1,3-BD was only 33% of that of ethanol after treatment with equimolar doses, suggesting a greater central nervous system (CNS) potency for 1,3-BD. In rats treated chronically with ethanol to produce physical dependence, 1,3-BD was more potent than ethanol in inhibiting the hyperexcitability observed upon ethanol withdrawal. Furthermore, chronic administration and withdrawal of 1,3-BD caused CNS hyperexcitability in rats that was characteristic of physical dependence. Despite these similarities, there were clear differences in the actions of ethanol and 1,3-BD. In mice, locomotor stimulation caused by ethanol was not observed after 1,3-BD. Furthermore, while 1,3-BD did not alter the concentration of luteinizing hormone in plasma, equivalent doses of ethanol markedly reduced the concentration of this hormone. These data indicate that like ethanol, 1,3-BD depresses CNS activity and induces physical dependence, but has less effect on plasma luteinizing hormone concentration than ethanol.

Thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) causes a significant increase in rat cerebellar guanosine 3',5'-monophosphate (cGMP) content after parenteral administration. A smaller but still significant increase in cGMP was also observed in brain stem, whereas no significant changes were observed in cGMP in other gross brain regions or in adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate in any brain region. TRH also caused a similar increase in cerebellar cGMP content in hypophysectomized rats indicating that the increase is independent of an intact pituitary. The time course of cGMP elevation in the cerebellum after administration of 10 mg/kg of TRH i.v. showed a peak at 2.5 to 5.0 min followed by a less rapid decrease. The time course of TRH immunoreactivity in the same cerebellar homogenates roughly paralleled these changes. Only those TRH analogs which were previously shown to antagonize pentobarbital sleeping time in mice caused an elevation in cGMP content in the cerebellum. TRH also caused a significant increase in cerebellar cGMP in rats pretreated with phenobarbital and chlordiazepoxide. The TRH-induced increase in cerebellar cGMP was not affected by cerebellar climbing fiber lesions caused by 3-acetylpyridine nor blocked by haloperidol, suggesting that TRH acts by mechanisms different from harmaline or apomorphine in raising cerebellar cGMP.

In intact young rats anesthetized with halothane, aminophylline produces an increase in respiratory minute ventilation due primarily to an increase in respiratory frequency. Although the simulation of respiration by inhalation of 10% CO2 is augmented only at high doses of aminophylline, the response to CO2 is increased at doses as low as 3 mg/kg of aminophylline. Division of the ninth cranial nerve together with removal of the carotid body did not alter the response, whereas vagotomy changed the response from one of increased frequency to an increase in tidal volume. Both awake and anesthetized rats evidence a decrease in PaCO2; after aminophylline administration and in awake animals, a decrease in brain stem dopamine content was observed. Since haloperidol, a dopamine antagonist, blocked the response to aminophylline, it seems likely that aminophylline may stimulate respiration by altering dopamine receptor activation in the brain.

Locomotor activity induced by d-amphetamine was found to be potentiated by food deprivation, a tryptophan-free diet, p-chlorophenylalanine and drugs proposed to antagonize serotonin receptors in brain. Administration of L-tryptophan 1 hour prior to d-amphetamine injection was found to antagonize the enhanced response to d-amphetamine in starved rats and in rats which had tryptophan removed from their diet. However, tryptophan did not block the potentiated response to d-amphetamine in animals pretreated with p-chlorophenylalanine. These findings suggested that the antagonism of d-amphetamine-induced activity by tryptophan in starved rats and rats fed a tryptophan-free diet was not due to a nonspecific depressant effect of the amino acid. Since accumulation of d-amphetamine and its metabolites was not affected by any of the treatments which enhanced its activity, it seems unlikely that an alteration in the metabolism of d-amphetamine can explain these findings. The present work provides additional support for the view that serotonergic fibers play an important role in the actions of d-amphetamine.

Intracisternal administration of 5,7-dihydroxytryptamine (5,7-DHT) to immature rats produced a marked reduction of brain norepinephrine and serotonin. Accompanying these reductions of brain amines were a decrease in body weight and alterations in behavior. After treatment with 5,7-DHT at 3 days of age, locomotor activity was significantly elevated at 14 days of age, but was reduced at 28 days of age. 5,7-DHT alone also induced a significant deficit in acquisition of the shuttle-box avoidance response and blocked body movements observed after decapitation. Treatment with either pargyline or desipramine before injection of 5,7-DHT eliminated the effect of 5,7-DHT on noradrenergic fibers while enhancing the effects of 5,7-DHT on brain serotonergic fibers. These treatments also minimized the deficits of 5,7-DHT on growth and on acquisition of the avoidance response and reversed the blockade of decapitation convulsions. However, animals pretreated with pargyline or desipramine before they received 5,7-DHT still demonstrated hyperactivity at 14 days of age equivalent to that observed in neonates that received only 5,7-DHT. Furthermore, a behavioral syndrome induced by 30 mg/kg of 5-hydroxytryptamine was markedly potentiated by all of the 5,7-DHT treatments which suggest that serotonin receptors were supersensitive.

Locomotor responses caused by dopamine receptor agonists with presumed specificity for D-1 or D-2 receptor subtypes were compared to apomorphine-induced locomotion in neonatally and adult 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA)-treated rats. In adult 6-OHDA-treated rats, apomorphine and the D-2 agonist, LY-171555, produced a marked, dose-related increase in locomotor activity. Increases in locomotion observed in neonatally 6-OHDA-treated rats after apomorphine and LY-171555 administration were less than one-third of those seen in rats treated as adults with 6-OHDA. Neonatally 6-OHDA-treated rats, positive for L-dihydroxyphenylalanine-induced self-biting, exhibited a small increase in locomotion after a single exposure to SKF-38393, a D-1 dopamine agonist. Subsequent administration of SKF-38393 to these rats resulted in an additional elevation of the locomotor response which reached a maximum after four doses. Adult 6-OHDA-treated rats were less sensitive to the locomotor stimulant effects of SKF-38393 than were neonatally 6-OHDA-treated rats. SKF-38393 and LY-171555 produced several behaviors in neonatally 6-OHDA-treated rats that were similar. These results indicate that D-1 dopamine receptors contribute to modulation of central dopaminergic function. Haloperidol and cis-flupentixol antagonized apomorphine-induced locomotion comparably in control and adult 6-OHDA-treated rats. The D-1 dopamine receptor antagonist, SCH-23390, was a less effective blocker of apomorphine-induced locomotion in 6-OHDA-treated rats than in controls. Therefore, the ability of SCH-23390 to attenuate apomorphine in control rats is likely dependent upon intact catecholamine-containing neurons.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) was found to antagonize pentobarbital-induced sleeping time and hypothermia. While 3 to 100 mg/kg of TRH reduced pentobarbital sleeping time when administered prior to the barbiturate, a dose-response relationship to TRH could not be established. However, doses of 10 to 100 mg/kg of TRH enhanced the lethality of pentobarbital when these compounds were administered simultaneously. Thyrotropin or L-triiodothyronine did not imitate and hypophysectomy did not reduce the effects of TRH, indicating that the pituitary is not essential for its antagonism of pentobarbital. Studies of TRH analogs provided further support of this view. In addition, TRH reduced the sleep and hypothermia produced by thiopental, amobarbital, secobarbital and phenobarbital, and it antagonized the hypothermia and reduced motor activity produced by chloral hydrate, reserpine, chlorpromazine and diazepam. Intracisternally administered TRH also reduced pentobarbital sleeping time and hypothermia, but melanocyte-stimulating hormone release-inhibiting factor and somatostatin administered by this route did not. While reduction of pentobarbital sleeping time by TRH could not be attributed to an affect on monoamine systems or to deamidated TRH, this action was reduced by intracisternally administered atropine, suggesting that cholinergic mechanisms may contribute to the effects of TRH. Thus, the results provide evidence that TRH acts on brain independent of an effect on the pituitary.

Neurotensin (NT), an endogenous tridecapeptide, is heterogeneously distributed in the central nervous system. The present study examined the effects of physiologically and behaviorally active doses of NT (1--100 micrograms intracisternally) on dopamine, serotonin and their primary metabolites as well as accumulation of dopa after inhibition of dopa decarboxylase. NT was shown to increase dopa accumulation when compared with saline treatment, suggesting that dopamine synthesis was increased. In accord with this view, NT also caused a dose-dependent increase in homovanillic acid and dihydroxyphenylacetic acid, the major metabolites of dopamine, in several brain areas (striatum, olfactory tubercles, nucleus accumbens, frontal cortex and hypothalamus). Interestingly, the increase in homovanillic acid was greater than that for dihydroxyphenylacetic acid. In striatum, an initial increase in dopamine content after 30 micrograms of NT was followed by an increase and a subsequent decrease of dopamine metabolites. Several other neuropeptides (Met-enkephalin, cholecystokinin-8, thyrotropin releasing hormone, substance P and d-Arg9-NT), at doses equimolar to 30 micrograms of NT, did not affect dopamine metabolites, whereas certain others (beta-endorphin and bombesin) increased their concentration in some brain areas. Except for the highest dose of NT, measures of serotonergic function were not affected by NT or any of the other neuropeptides.