Pharmacological agents acting at alpha-2 adrenergic receptors are widely used in physiology and neuroscience research. Mounting evidence of their potential utility in clinical and experimental psychopharmacology, necessitates new models and novel model organisms for their screening. Here, we characterize behavioral effects of mafedine (6-oxo-1-phenyl-2- (phenylamino)-1,6-dihydropyrimidine-4-sodium olate), a novel drug with alpha-2 adrenergic receptor agonistic effects, in adult zebrafish (Danio rerio) in the novel tank test of anxiety and activity. Following an acute 20-min exposure, mafedine at 60 mg/L produced a mild psychostimulant action with some anxiogenic-like effects. Repeated acute 20-min/day administration of mafedine for 7 consecutive days at 1, 5 and 10 mg/L had a similar action on fish behavior as an acute exposure to 60 mg/L. Since mafedine demonstrated robust behavioral effects in zebrafish - a sensitive vertebrate aquatic model, it is likely that it may modulate rodent and human behavior as well. Thus, further studies are needed to explore this possibility in detail, and whether it may foster clinical application of mafedine and related alpha-2 adrenergic agents.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
---|---|
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neulet.2019.03.001 | DOI Listing |
Medicine (Baltimore)
January 2025
Department of Trauma Surgery, Chungbuk National University Hospital, Cheongju, Republic of Korea.
Rationale: Hypothermia, defined as a core body temperature below 35°C, is a common and serious complication in severe trauma patients, often worsened by hemorrhage and medical interventions. Dexmedetomidine, an α2-adrenergic agonist used for sedation in intensive care units, has known thermoregulatory effects; however, its association with hypothermia in trauma patients remains insufficiently explored.
Patient Concerns: A 40-year-old male with severe polytrauma from a motor vehicle accident presented in distress, with hypotension, tachycardia, and a baseline temperature of 35.
Learn Mem
January 2025
Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Radboud university medical center, 6500 HB Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Stressful and emotionally arousing experiences induce the release of noradrenergic and glucocorticoid hormones that synergistically strengthen memories but differentially regulate qualitative aspects of memory. This highlights the need for sophisticated behavioral tasks that allow for the assessment of memory quality. The dual-event inhibitory avoidance task for rats is such a behavioral task designed to evaluate both the strength and specificity of memory.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSci Adv
January 2025
Department of Neuroscience, Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
Homeostatic sleep regulation is essential for optimizing the amount and timing of sleep for its revitalizing function, but the mechanism underlying sleep homeostasis remains poorly understood. Here, we show that optogenetic activation of locus coeruleus (LC) noradrenergic neurons immediately increased sleep propensity following a transient wakefulness, contrasting with many other arousal-promoting neurons whose activation induces sustained wakefulness. Fiber photometry showed that repeated optogenetic or sensory stimulation caused a rapid reduction of calcium activity in LC neurons and steep declines in noradrenaline/norepinephrine (NE) release in both the LC and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBMJ
January 2025
Division of Addiction Psychiatry, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
The covid-19 pandemic was associated with an unprecedented increase in alcohol consumption and associated morbidity, including hospitalizations for alcohol withdrawal. Clinicians based in hospitals must be ready to identify, assess, risk-stratify, and treat alcohol withdrawal with evidence based interventions. In this clinically focused review, we outline the epidemiology, pathophysiology, clinical manifestations, screening, assessment, and treatment of alcohol withdrawal in the general hospital population.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBMC Med
January 2025
Lurie Center for Autism, Massachusetts General Hospital, Lexington, MA, 02421, USA.
Background: The prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has surged, with an estimated 1 in 36 eight-year-olds in the United States meeting criteria for ASD in 2020. Autistic individuals face elevated rates of co-occurring medical, psychiatric, and behavioral conditions compared to non-autistic individuals. The rising ASD-patient demand is increasingly outpacing the capacity of ASD-specialty clinics, resulting in urgent need for autism-competent providers in general practice settings.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!