Effect of long-term caffeine administration on depressive-like behavior in rats exposed to chronic unpredictable stress.

Chronic unpredictable stress (CUS) was used to study the effects of a long-term treatment with either caffeine (8 mg/kg, orally) or desipramine (DMI) (10 mg/kg, intraperitoneally) in Wistar rats. The CUS procedure was applied for 6 weeks. Animals underwent a 2-week drug-free CUS procedure.

Effects of GABA-transaminase inhibitor Vigabatrin on thermoregulation in rats.

Vigabatrin is a GABA derivative (gamma-vinyl GABA) which inhibits irreversibly the enzyme activity of GABA transaminase and thus increased indirectly brain GABA concentrations. We have used body temperature assay to examine the effects of Vigabatrin on thermoregulation in intact rats. In order to understand the mechanism of thermoregulatory action of Vigabatrin at cellular level, we have investigated its effect on individual warm-sensitive preoptic area/anterior hypothalamus (PO/AH) neurons in rat brain slice preparations.