Pancreatic mitochondrial complex I exhibits aberrant hyperactivity in diabetes.

It is well established that NADH/NAD redox balance is heavily perturbed in diabetes, and the NADH/NAD redox imbalance is a major source of oxidative stress in diabetic tissues. In mitochondria, complex I is the only site for NADH oxidation and NAD regeneration and is also a major site for production of mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (ROS). Yet how complex I responds to the NADH/NAD redox imbalance and any potential consequences of such response in diabetic pancreas have not been investigated.

Retrograde conditioning of place preference and motor activity with cocaine in mice.

Rationale: In order to improve understanding of the nature of drug-associated memory, the current studies addressed whether conditioned place preference (CPP) could develop under conditions in which there was a delay between presentation of context and drug exposure (i.e., retrograde or trace conditioning).

Neuroprotective effects of transcription factor Brn3b in an ocular hypertension rat model of glaucoma.

Purpose: Glaucoma is an optic neuropathy commonly associated with elevated intraocular pressure (IOP), leading to optic nerve head (ONH) cupping, axon loss, and apoptosis of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs), which could ultimately result in blindness. Brn3b is a class-4 POU domain transcription factor that plays a key role in RGC development, axon outgrowth, and pathfinding. Previous studies suggest that a decrease in Brn3b levels occurs in animal models of glaucoma.

Discriminative and locomotor effects of five synthetic cathinones in rats and mice.

Rationale: Synthetic cathinones continue to be sold as "legal" alternatives to methamphetamine or cocaine. As these marginally legal compounds become controlled, suppliers move to other, unregulated compounds.

Objectives: The purpose of these experiments was to determine whether several temporarily controlled cathinone compounds, which are currently abused on the street, stimulate motor activity and have discriminative stimulus effects similar to cocaine and/or methamphetamine.

Comparison of the discriminative stimulus effects of dimethyltryptamine with different classes of psychoactive compounds in rats.

Rationale: There has been increased recreational use of dimethyltryptamine (DMT), but little is known of its discriminative stimulus effects.

Objectives: The present study assessed the similarity of the discriminative stimulus effects of DMT to other types of hallucinogens and to psychostimulants.

Methods: Rats were trained to discriminate DMT from saline.

Differential effect of anterior cingulate cortex lesion on mechanical hypersensitivity and escape/avoidance behavior in an animal model of neuropathic pain.

Various limbic system structures have been implicated in processing noxious information. One such structure is the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), a region that is thought to modulate higher order processing of noxious input related to the affective/motivational component of pain. The present experiment examined the involvement of the ACC in higher order pain processing by measuring paw withdrawal threshold and escape/avoidance responses in the L5 spinal nerve ligation model of neuropathic pain before and following electrolytic lesion of the ACC.