The effect of caffeine on some mouse brain free amino acid levels.

Changes in free amino acids were examined in the central nervous system of mice treated with caffeine for three weeks. Caffeine was administered in the drinking water, and at the end of three weeks the level of caffeine in the cerebral cortex was 113 +/- 19 micrograms/g. When amino acid levels in cerebral hemispheres, midbrain, pons and medulla, and cerebellum were measured a significant increase in glutamine levels was found in all four regions.

Effects of caffeine on amino acid transport in the brain.

Chronic administration of caffeine to mice did not alter cellular (low-affinity) transport as measured in brain slices of the amino acids ?-aminobutyric acid, glutamic acid, and glycine. Chronic caffeine administration did, however, increase the long-term (60-min) uptake of ?-aminoisobutyric acid and valine into brain slices. A similar tendency, although not statistically significant, towards increased amino acid uptake was also seen in the transport of phenylalanine and lysine across the blood-brain barrier in chronically treated rats.

Depolarization of brain cortex slices and synaptosomes by lithium. Determination of K+-equilibrium potential in cortex slices.

K+-equilibrium potential was determined in brain cortex slices of rat by measuring 86Rb+ distribution between the extra- and intracellular space. The ratio of internal to external Rb+ concentration was 39 +/- 1.8, corresponding to a resting membrane potential of 93.

Modulation of the serotonin S2-receptor in brain after chronic lithium.

In vivo effects of chronic lithium administration on dopaminergic and serotonergic receptor binding were studied in the striatum and cerebral cortex of the rat. [3H]Domperidone was used as the ligand for the dopaminergic receptor, and [3H]ketanserin for the serotonergic system. Long-term ingestion of lithium (2-3 months) resulted in high levels of lithium in the cerebral cortex and significantly higher potassium levels; the sodium content remained at normal levels.

Dietary lithium during development: changes in amino acid levels, ionic content, and [3H]spiperone binding in the brain of rats.

We found that chronic lithium diet affects the sensitivity of neuroleptic receptors and the content of amino acids in the brain, and that the changes in adult animals differ from those in young rats. Pregnant rats were kept on lithium diet (pellets with 0.21% Li2CO3 and 0.