Behavioral sensitization and tolerance induced by repeated treatment with ketamine enantiomers in male Wistar rats.

Ketamine has gained significant attention as a fast-acting antidepressant. However, ketamine is also associated with undesirable side effects. In our preclinical study, we explored the behavioral effects of ketamine enantiomers at subanesthetic doses.

Increased pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide in the central bed nucleus of the stria terminalis in mood disorders in men.

The mood disorders major depressive disorder (MDD) and bipolar disorder (BD) are highly prevalent worldwide. Women are more vulnerable to these psychopathologies than men. The bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST), the amygdala, and the hypothalamus are the crucial interconnected structures involved in the stress response.

Alterations in pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide in major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, and comorbid depression in Alzheimer's disease in the human hypothalamus and prefrontal cortex.

Background: Pituitary Adenylate Cyclase-Activating Polypeptide (PACAP) is involved in the stress response and may play a key role in mood disorders, but no information is available on PACAP for the human brain in relation to mood disorders.

Methods: PACAP-peptide levels were determined in a major stress-response site, the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVN), of people with major depressive disorder (MDD), bipolar disorder (BD) and of a unique cohort of Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients with and without depression, all with matched controls. The expression of PACAP-(Adcyap1mRNA) and PACAP-receptors was determined in the MDD and BD patients by qPCR in presumed target sites of PACAP in stress-related disorders, the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC).

Pseudo-irreversible butyrylcholinesterase inhibitors: Structure-activity relationships, computational and crystallographic study of the N-dialkyl O-arylcarbamate warhead.

Alongside reversible butyrylcholinesterase inhibitors, a plethora of covalent butyrylcholinesterase inhibitors have been reported in the literature, typically pseudo-irreversible carbamates. For these latter, however, most cases lack full confirmation of their covalent mode of action. Additionally, the available reports regarding the structure-activity relationships of the O-arylcarbamate warhead are incomplete.

Rat Group IIA Secreted Phospholipase A Binds to Cytochrome c Oxidase and Inhibits Its Activity: A Possible Episode in the Development of Alzheimer's Disease.

Alzheimer's disease (AD), a progressive form of dementia, is characterized by the increased expression of secreted phospholipase A group IIA (GIIA) in the affected tissue and the dysfunction of neuronal mitochondria, similar to that induced by an orthologous GIIA from snake venom, β-neurotoxic ammodytoxin (Atx), in the motor neurons. To advance our knowledge about the role of GIIA in AD, we studied the effect of rat GIIA on the neuronal mitochondria and compared it with that of the Atx. We produced recombinant rat GIIA (rGIIA) and its enzymatically inactive mutant, rGIIA(D49S), and demonstrated that they interact with the subunit II of cytochrome c oxidase (CCOX-II) as Atx.

Modulation by Estradiol of L-Dopa-Induced Dyskinesia in a Rat Model of Post-Menopausal Hemiparkinsonism.

Treatment with levodopa (L-dopa) in Parkinson's disease (PD) leads to involuntary movements termed L-dopa-induced dyskinesia (LID). There are contradictory data about the influence of hormone therapy in female PD patients with LID and of 17-β-estradiol (E2) on animal correlates of LID-abnormal involuntary movements (AIMs). Our aim was to characterize the influence of E2 on motor impairment and AIMs in ovariectomized 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) rat model of PD.

Effects of L-dopa on expression of prolactin and synaptotagmin IV in 17-beta-estradiol-induced prolactinomas of ovariectomized hemiparkinsonian rats.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. Dopamine precursor levodopa (L-dopa) is used as the first-line treatment for PD. Evidence suggests neuroprotective effects of estrogens in PD.

Development of potent reversible selective inhibitors of butyrylcholinesterase as fluorescent probes.

Brain butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) is an attractive target for drugs designed for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD) in its advanced stages. It also potentially represents a biomarker for progression of this disease. Based on the crystal structure of previously described highly potent, reversible, and selective BChE inhibitors, we have developed the fluorescent probes that are selective towards human BChE.

On the spot: utilization of directional cues in vibrational communication of a stink bug.

Although vibrational signalling is among the most ancient and common forms of communication, many fundamental aspects of this communication channel are still poorly understood. Here, we studied mechanisms underlying orientation towards the source of vibrational signals in the stink bug Nezara viridula (Hemiptera, Pentatomidae), where female vibrational song enables male to locate her on the bean plant. At the junction between the main stem and the leaf stalks, male placed his legs on different sides of the branching and orientation at the branching point was not random.

Descending brain neurons in the cricket Gryllus bimaculatus (de Geer): auditory responses and impact on walking.

The activity of four types of sound-sensitive descending brain neurons in the cricket Gryllus bimaculatus was recorded intracellularly while animals were standing or walking on an open-loop trackball system. In a neuron with a contralaterally descending axon, the male calling song elicited responses that copied the pulse pattern of the song during standing and walking. The accuracy of pulse copying increased during walking.

Temporal processing of vibratory communication signals at the level of ascending interneurons in Nezara viridula (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae).

During mating, males and females of N. viridula (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae) produce sex- and species-specific calling and courtship substrate-borne vibratory signals, grouped into songs. Recognition and localization of these signals are fundamental for successful mating.

Morphology and physiology of vibratory interneurons in the thoracic ganglia of the southern green stinkbug Nezara viridula (L.).

The central processing mechanisms of vibratory signals in small plant-dwelling insects that rely primarily on substrate-borne vibratory communication are still largely unknown. To elucidate the neural mechanisms involved in vibratory signaling, the vibration-sensitive interneurons in thoracic ganglia of the southern green stinkbug, Nezara viridula, were investigated electrophysiologically by single-cell recordings and staining. Ten types of interneurons were described and divided into four categories, based on their gross morphology.

Vibrational communication along plants by the stink bugs Nezara viridula and Murgantia histrionica.

The velocity and spectral characteristics of vibrational signals of Nezara viridula (L.) and Murgantia histrionica (Hahn) (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae) were analyzed as the signals were transmitted through different plants. The velocity parameter of the body vibrations ranges from 0.

Tuning of host plants with vibratory songs of Nezara viridula L (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae).

Songs of the southern green stink bug Nezara viridula L, recorded on a non-resonant loudspeaker membrane, reflect frequency characteristics of body vibrations. The song dominant frequency directly depends on the repetition rate of potentials recorded from synchronously contracting muscles that vibrate the abdomen during singing. Spectra of naturally emitted signals recorded on the pronotum of a singing bug or on a plant contain peaks characteristic of plant resonant spectra.