Brief electrical nerve stimulation enhances intrinsic repair capacity of the focally demyelinated central nervous system.

Our lab has shown that brief electrical nerve stimulation (ES) has a dramatic impact on remyelination of lysophosphatidyl choline (LPC)-induced focally demyelinated rat peripheral nerves, while also inducing an axon-protective phenotype and shifting macrophages from a predominantly pro-inflammatory toward a pro-repair phenotype. Whether this same potential exists in the central nervous system is not known. Thus, for proof of principle studies, the peripheral nerve demyelination and ES model was adapted to the central nervous system, whereby a unilateral focal LPC-induced demyelination of the dorsal column at the lumbar enlargement where the sciatic nerve afferents enter was created, so that subsequent ipsilateral sciatic nerve ES results in increased neural activity in the demyelinated axons.

Anti-nociceptive, anti-inflammatory and possible mechanism of anti-nociceptive action of methanol leaf extract of Linn (Nymphaeceae).

The leaf of has been used traditionally for the management of pain and inflammatory diseases. The methanol leaf extract of (NLE) was evaluated for possible anti-nociceptive and anti-inflammatory activities in rats and mice (at the doses of 250, 500 and 1,000 mg/kg) to investigate the existence of scientific basis for the folkloric use of the plant. The standard drugs used were piroxicam (10 mg/kg) and morphine (10 mg/kg).

Evaluation of Alcohol Preference and Drinking in msP Rats Bearing a Promoter Polymorphism.

Alcoholism is a pervasive societal problem, yet available pharmacotherapies fail to treat most sufferers. The type 1 corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) receptor has received much attention for its putative role in the progression to alcohol dependence, although at present its success in clinical trials has been limited. Two single-nucleotide polymorphisms in the rat promoter have been identified in the Marchigian substrain of Sardinian alcohol-preferring (msP) rats.

PRELIMINARY STUDIES ON THE BEHAVIOURAL EFFECTS OF THE METHANOL EXTRACT OF LINN STEM IN MICE.

Background: Linn (Lamiaceae) is used in traditional medicine for its calming (tranquilizing) effects. The aim of this study was to determine whether there is any scientific justification for this use. To achieve this purpose, we investigated the behavioural effects of the methanol extract of stem (37.

Role of Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal axis and corticotropin-releasing factor stress system on cue-induced relapse to alcohol seeking.

A large body of evidence has shown that the Corticotropin Releasing Factor (CRF) system, which plays a key role in stress modulation, is deeply involved in relapse to alcohol seeking induced by exposure to stressful events such as foot shock or yohimbine injections. Exposure to environmental cues is also known to be a trigger for alcohol relapse, nevertheless, the relationship between the relapse evoked by the cue-induced model and the CRF stress systems remains unclear. The purpose of this study was to evaluate, in male Wistar rats, the involvement of the CRF system and Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) axis in relapse induced by environmental cues.

Neurokinin 1 receptor blockade in the medial amygdala attenuates alcohol drinking in rats with innate anxiety but not in Wistar rats.

Background And Purpose: Substance P and its preferred neurokinin receptor NK1 have been implicated in stress and anxiety and have been proposed as possible therapeutic targets for the treatment of anxiety/depression. Attention is also being focused on the role this neuropeptide system may play in drug addiction, because stress-related mechanisms promote drug abuse.

Experimental Approach: The effects of the rat-specific NK1 receptor antagonist, L822429, on alcohol intake and seeking behaviour was investigated in genetically selected Marchigian Sardinian alcohol preferring rats.

Polymorphism in the corticotropin-releasing factor receptor 1 (CRF1-R) gene plays a role in shaping the high anxious phenotype of Marchigian Sardinian alcohol-preferring (msP) rats.

Introduction: Marchigian Sardinian alcohol-preferring (msP) rats exhibit innate preference for alcohol along with anxious phenotype. In these animals, two single-nucleotide polymorphisms in position -1,836 and -2,097 from the first start codon of the CRF1-R transcript have been found.

Materials And Methods: Here, we examined whether these point mutations account for the heightened anxiety-like behavior and stress responsiveness of msP rats.

Role of a genetic polymorphism in the corticotropin-releasing factor receptor 1 gene in alcohol drinking and seeking behaviors of marchigian sardinian alcohol-preferring rats.

Marchigian Sardinian alcohol-preferring (msP) rats exhibit innate preference for alcohol, are highly sensitive to stress and stress-induced alcohol seeking. Genetic analysis showed that over-expression of the corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) system of msP rats is correlated with the presence of two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) occurring in the promoter region (position -1836 and -2097) of the CRF1 receptor (CRF1-R) gene. Here we examined whether these point mutations were associated to the innate alcohol preference, stress-induced drinking, and seeking.

Analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects of the methanol stem bark extract of Prosopis africana.

Prosopis africana (Guill. & Perr.) Taub.