Proteome profiling in the hippocampus, medial prefrontal cortex, and striatum of aging rat.

Decrease in multiple functions occurs in the brain with aging, all of which can contribute to age-related cognitive and locomotor impairments. Brain atrophy specifically in hippocampus, medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), and striatum, can contribute to this age-associated decline in function. Our recent metabolomics analysis showed age-related changes in these brain regions.

Choline acetyltransferase of the common type immunoreactivity in the rat brain following different heroin treatments: a pilot study.

Previous studies suggest that behavioral consequences of heroin treatment depend on the drug history of the animals and that cholinergic neurotransmission is involved in both behavioral and motor sensitization induced by heroin and other drugs of abuse. Immunohistochemistry, using a recently developed antiserum, specific for choline acetyl-transferase of the common type (cChAT), was applied to four different groups of rats, differing in drug regimens. Two groups of rats were submitted to the same schedule of heroin sensitization and then challenged for vehicle or heroin before sacrifice, obtaining two distinct groups, namely heroin-vehicle (HV) and heroin-heroin (HH).