Behavioral sensitization and cellular responses to psychostimulants are reduced in D2R knockout mice.

Repeated cocaine exposure causes long-lasting neuroadaptations that involve alterations in cellular signaling and gene expression mediated by dopamine in different brain regions, such as the striatum. Previous studies have pointed out to the dopamine D1 receptor as one major player in psychostimulants-induced behavioral, cellular, and molecular changes. However, the role of other dopamine receptors has not been fully characterized.

Development and characterization of mouse monoclonal antibodies to eight human complement components: Analysis of reactivity with orthologs of nine mammalian genera.

To study complement function in mammalian leishmanioses, we developed mouse monoclonal antibodies to the human complement system components C1q, C4, factor D, factor H, factor B, properdin, C5 and C9. Antibody specificity was determined by indirect and capture ELISA and by Western blot. In flow cytometry analysis, seven antibodies recognized the cognate component on human serum-opsonized Leishmania promastigotes.

Application of a specific quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) to identify Leishmania infantum DNA in spleen, skin and hair samples of wild Leporidae.

The aim of this study was to compare a quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) validated for the detection of Leishmania infantum in dogs with a nested PCR but in wild Leporidae. Additionally, L. infantum results from indirect immunofluorescent antibody test (IFAT) and in vitro culture were also compared with qPCR.

Effectiveness and safety of first-generation protease inhibitors in clinical practice: Hepatitis C virus patients with advanced fibrosis.

Aim: To evaluates the effectiveness and safety of the first generation, NS3/4A protease inhibitors (PIs) in clinical practice against chronic C virus, especially in patients with advanced fibrosis.

Methods: Prospective study and non-experimental analysis of a multicentre cohort of 38 Spanish hospitals that includes patients with chronic hepatitis C genotype 1, treatment-naïve (TN) or treatment-experienced (TE), who underwent triple therapy with the first generation NS3/4A protease inhibitors, boceprevir (BOC) and telaprevir (TVR), in combination with pegylated interferon and ribavirin. The patients were treatment in routine practice settings.

Minimally invasive therapy for epiphrenic diverticula: Systematic review of literature and report of six cases.

Introduction: Epiphrenic diverticula (ED) are infrequent and conventional surgical treatment entails aggressive open or transthoracic surgery. Minimally invasive treatment has changed the surgical approach but some surgical controversies are not resolved.

Objective: The objective of this study is to describe our experience in minimally invasive treatment of the ED and to perform a systematic review of the current literature in this subject.

Imported strongyloidiasis in Spain.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to assess the epidemiological, laboratory, and clinical features of imported strongyloidiasis in a tropical medicine referral unit in Madrid, Spain.

Methods: This was a retrospective study based on a review of medical records. A patient was diagnosed with strongyloidiasis when the infection could be detected by conventional stool analysis and/or serology against Strongyloides stercoralis, regardless of the presence of symptoms.

Variation of transaminases, HCV-RNA levels and Th1/Th2 cytokine production during the post-partum period in pregnant women with chronic hepatitis C.

This study analyses the evolution of liver disease in women with chronic hepatitis C during the third trimester of pregnancy and the post-partum period, as a natural model of immune modulation and reconstitution. Of the 122 mothers recruited to this study, 89 were HCV-RNA+ve/HIV-ve and 33 were HCV-RNA-ve/HIV-ve/HCVantibody+ve and all were tested during the third trimester of pregnancy, at delivery and post-delivery. The HCV-RNA+ve mothers were categorized as either Type-A (66%), with an increase in ALT levels in the post-partum period (>40 U/L; P<0.

Plasma ribavirin trough concentrations during treatment of chronic hepatitis C in genotype-1 patients.

Goals: To investigate the correlation between virological response and plasma ribavirin trough concentrations (RBV Ctrough) during the full period of chronic hepatitis C (CHC) treatment.

Study: Multicenter prospective cohort study. Total 119 patients with CHC genotype-1 were treated with peginterferon alfa-2a (pegIFN) and RBV for 48 weeks.

Factors associated with hepatic steatosis in obese children and adolescents.

Objectives: Obesity is associated with high prevalence of hepatic steatosis. We speculate that determinant factors of susceptibility to hepatic steatosis in obesity could differ between children and adolescents.

Patients And Methods: Blood biochemical parameters, systemic oxidative stress markers, proinflammatory cytokines, and adipokine levels were determined in 157 obese children and adolescents.

Genetic inactivation of dopamine D1 but not D2 receptors inhibits L-DOPA-induced dyskinesia and histone activation.

Background: Pharmacologic studies have implicated dopamine D1-like receptors in the development of dopamine precursor molecule 3,4-dihydroxyphenyl-L-alanine (L-DOPA)-induced dyskinesias and associated molecular changes in hemiparkinsonian mice. However, pharmacologic agents for D1 or D2 receptors also recognize other receptor family members. Genetic inactivation of the dopamine D1 or D2 receptor was used to define the involvement of these receptor subtypes.

Expression and function of CB1 receptor in the rat striatum: localization and effects on D1 and D2 dopamine receptor-mediated motor behaviors.

Cannabinoid CB1 receptors are densely expressed on striatal projection neurons expressing dopamine D1 or D2 receptors. However, the specific neuronal distribution of CB1 receptors within the striatum is not known. Previous research has established that the endocannabinoid system controls facilitation of behavior by dopamine D2 receptors, but it is not clear if endocannabinoids also modulate D1 receptor-mediated motor behavior.

Proteomic analysis of plasma from patients with systemic lupus erythematosus: increased presence of haptoglobin alpha2 polypeptide chains over the alpha1 isoforms.

In the present study plasma samples from 15 systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients and 16 healthy controls of initially unknown haptoglobin (Hp) phenotype were separated by 2-DE, and tryptic digests of the excised Hpalpha polypeptide chain spots were analyzed by MALDI-TOF-MS. Selected tryptic peptides were sequenced by nano-(n)ESI-IT MS/MS. The six major Hp phenotypes were present, although with distinct frequencies in controls and SLE patients.

Absence of quasi-morphine withdrawal syndrome in adenosine A2A receptor knockout mice.

Rationale: Caffeine and other methylxanthines induce behavioral activation and anxiety responses in mice via antagonist action at A2A adenosine receptors. When combined with the opioid antagonist naloxone, methylxanthines produce a characteristic quasi-morphine withdrawal syndrome (QMWS) in opiate-naive animals.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to establish the role of A2A receptors in the quasi-morphine withdrawal syndrome induced by co-administration of caffeine and naloxone and in the behavioral effects of caffeine.

ERK phosphorylation and FosB expression are associated with L-DOPA-induced dyskinesia in hemiparkinsonian mice.

Background: The dopamine precursor 3,4-dihydroxyphenyl-L-alanine (L-DOPA) is currently the most efficacious noninvasive therapy for Parkinson's disease. A major complication of this therapy, however, is the appearance of the abnormal involuntary movements known as dyskinesias. We have developed a model of L-DOPA-induced dyskinesias in mice that reproduces the main clinical features of dyskinesia in humans.

Chronic treatment with atypical neuroleptics induces striosomal FosB/DeltaFosB expression in rats.

Background: Studies have shown that neuroleptics regulate expression of the transcription factor FosB/DeltaFosB in the striatum, including the accumbens and caudate-putamen; however, the striatum is also divided into another structural dimension, the striosome and matrix compartments. The precise distribution of FosB/DeltaFosB induced by chronic neuroleptics in these striatal compartments is poorly understood.

Methods: Rats received either single acute injections or chronic injections of clozapine (0 or 20 mg/kg, intraperitoneally [IP]), olanzapine (0 or 5 mg/kg, IP), or haloperidol (0 or 1.

Absence of hematopoiesis from transplanted olfactory bulb neural stem cells.

Neural stem cells giving rise to neurons and glia cells have been isolated from the embryonic and adult central nervous system. The extent to which they are able to differentiate into cells of non-neural lineages, such as the hematopoietic lineage, is nonetheless unclear. We previously reported the isolation of stem cells from the mouse olfactory bulb neuroepithelium.

Distinct roles of D1 and D5 dopamine receptors in motor activity and striatal synaptic plasticity.

Stimulation of dopamine (DA) receptors in the striatum is essential for voluntary motor activity and for the generation of plasticity at corticostriatal synapses. In the present study, mice lacking DA D1 receptors have been used to investigate the involvement of the D1-like class (D1 and D5) of DA receptors in locomotion and corticostriatal long-term depression (LTD) and long-term potentiation (LTP). Our results suggest that D1 and D5 receptors exert distinct actions on both activity-dependent synaptic plasticity and spontaneous motor activity.

Receptor subtypes involved in the presynaptic and postsynaptic actions of dopamine on striatal interneurons.

By stimulating distinct receptor subtypes, dopamine (DA) exerts presynaptic and postsynaptic actions on both large aspiny (LA) cholinergic and fast-spiking (FS) parvalbumin-positive interneurons of the striatum. Lack of receptor- and isoform-specific pharmacological agents, however, has hampered the progress toward a detailed identification of the specific DA receptors involved in these actions. To overcome this issue, in the present study we used four different mutant mice in which the expression of specific DA receptors was ablated.

Inactivation of adenosine A2A receptors selectively attenuates amphetamine-induced behavioral sensitization.

Repeated treatment with the psychostimulant amphetamine produces behavioral sensitization that may represent the neural adaptations underlying some features of psychosis and addiction in humans. In the present study we investigated the role of adenosine A(2A) receptors in psychostimulant-induced locomotor sensitization using an A(2A) receptor knockout (A(2A) KO) model. Daily treatment with amphetamine for 1 week resulted in an enhanced motor response on day 8 (by two-fold compared to that on day 1), and remained enhanced at day 24 upon rechallenge with amphetamine.

Molecular phenotype of rat striatal neurons expressing the dopamine D5 receptor subtype.

Dopamine is one of the principal neurotransmitters in the basal ganglia, where it plays a critical role in motor control and cognitive function through its interactions with the specific dopamine receptors D1 to D5. Although the activities mediated by most dopamine receptor subtypes have already been determined, the role of the D5 receptor subtype in the basal ganglia has still not been established. Furthermore, it is often difficult to distinguish between dopamine D5 and D1 receptors as they are stimulated by the same ligands, and they have a similar molecular structure and pharmacology.

Endogenous dopamine amplifies ischemic long-term potentiation via D1 receptors.

Background And Purpose: Several observations indicate that, during energy deprivation, endogenous dopamine may become neurotoxic. Accordingly, the nucleus striatum is a preferential site of silent infarcts in humans, and experimental ischemia caused by homolateral carotid occlusion selectively damages this dopamine-enriched brain area. In an attempt to clarify how dopamine takes part in ischemia-induced neuronal damage, we performed in vitro electrophysiological recordings from neurons of the nucleus striatum.

Molecular dissection of dopamine receptor signaling.

The use of genetically engineered mice has provided substantial new insights into the functional organization of the striatum. Increasing evidence suggests that specific genes expressed within the striatum contribute to its functional activity. We studied the dopamine (DA) D1 receptor gene and one of its downstream targets, the transcription factor c-Fos.