A novel in-frame deletion affecting the BAR domain of OPHN1 in a family with intellectual disability and hippocampal alterations.

Oligophrenin-1 (OPHN1) is one of at least seven genes located on chromosome X that take part in Rho GTPase-dependent signaling pathways involved in X-linked intellectual disability (XLID). Mutations in OPHN1 were primarily described as an exclusive cause of non-syndromic XLID, but the re-evaluation of the affected individuals using brain imaging displayed fronto-temporal atrophy and cerebellar hypoplasia as neuroanatomical marks. In this study, we describe clinical, genetic and neuroimaging data of a three generation Brazilian XLID family co-segregating a novel intragenic deletion in OPHN1.

Opposite effects of typical and atypical anti-psychotic drugs on sensitized dopamine receptors: sub-chronic low dose Olanzapine exposure reverses sensitization but a similar regimen of low dose haloperidol potentiates sensitization effects.

Rationale: Both typical and atypical antipsychotic drugs are D2 receptor antagonists but yet appear to have markedly different effects upon the induction of dopamine sensitization.

Objective: This study aims to compare the effects of subchronic regimens of low-dose olanzapine and haloperidol administered to rats previously sensitized to apomorphine.

Methods: Initially, rats received apomorphine (2.

Proliferation of seminiferous epithelium cells during the postnatal development in goats.

The objective of this research study was to evaluate the proliferation of somatic and germ cells in the seminiferous epithelium of Alpine goats. A total of 47 goats reared in semi-intensive conditions were used, divided into age groups from birth up to 12 months of age. Following castration, testis fragments were included in plastic resin and were mounted in Entellan(®) for histometric evaluations.

Essential role of the czc determinant for cadmium, cobalt and zinc resistance in Gluconacetobacter diazotrophicus PAl 5.

The mechanisms of cadmium, cobalt and zinc resistance were characterized in the plant-growth-promoting bacterium Gluconacetobacter diazotrophicus PAl 5. The resistance level of the wild-type strain was evaluated through the establishment of minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) of the soluble compounds CdCl2·H2O, CoCl2·6H2O and ZnCl2. Gluconacetobacter diazotrophicus PAl 5 was resistant to high concentrations of Cd, Co and Zn, with MICs of 1.

Residual dopamine receptor desensitization following either high- or low-dose sub-chronic prior exposure to the atypical anti-psychotic drug olanzapine.

Rationale: Anti-psychotic drugs are antagonists of dopamine D2 receptors and repeated administration may lead to the development of dopamine receptor supersensitivity.

Objectives: The objective of this study is to investigate the effects of sub-chronic olanzapine treatments upon the induction of dopamine receptor supersensitivity.

Methods: Rats were administered ten daily low or high doses of the atypical anti-psychotic drug olanzapine (0.

Post-trial apomorphine at an autoreceptor dose level can eliminate apomorphine conditioning and sensitization: support for the critical role of dopamine in re-consolidation.

Re-exposure to conditioned drug stimuli triggers re-consolidation processes. In the present study post-trial apomorphine treatments were administered in order to interact with the re-consolidation of an apomorphine conditioned/sensitized locomotor response. A low (0.

¹H and ¹³C-NMR data of the simplest plumeran indole alkaloids isolated from Aspidosperma species.

Indole alkaloids are the chemotaxonomic markers of the Aspidosperma genera. Those that have the simplest plumeran skeleton are classified as the precursors of biosynthetic routes and the intermediates for several synthetic reactions. This work aims to review the ¹H and ¹³C-NMR data, up to 2011, describing the skeleton of 35 different plumeran indole alkaloids, from a group of 46 of them, and highlight the main spectral differences amongst them.

Opposite effects of low versus high dose haloperidol treatments on spontaneous and apomorphine induced motor behavior: evidence that at a very low dose haloperidol acts as an indirect dopamine agonist.

Anti-psychotic drugs are antagonists at the dopamine D2 receptors and repeated administration can lead to the development of dopamine receptor supersensitivity. In two experiments, separate groups of rats were administered 10 daily low or high doses of the typical anti-psychotic drug haloperidol (0.03 or 1.

Terpenoids from endophytic fungi.

This work reviews the production of terpenoids by endophytic fungi and their biological activities, in period of 2006 to 2010. Sixty five sesquiterpenes, 45 diterpenes, five meroterpenes and 12 other terpenes, amounting to 127 terpenoids were isolated from endophytic fungi.

Symbiotic bacteria on the cuticle of the leaf-cutting ant Acromyrmex subterraneus subterraneus protect workers from attack by entomopathogenic fungi.

Although only discovered in 1999, the symbiotic filamentous actinobacteria present on the integument of certain species of leaf-cutting ants have been the subject of intense research. These bacteria have been shown to specifically suppress fungal garden parasites by secretion of antibiotics. However, more recently, a wider role for these bacteria has been suggested from research revealing their generalist anti-fungal activity.

Memory re-consolidation and drug conditioning: an apomorphine conditioned locomotor stimulant response can be enhanced or reversed by a single high versus low apomorphine post-trial treatment.

Rationale: Psychostimulant sensitization can have transformative effects upon contextual stimuli such as acquired conditioned stimuli and conditioned incentive motivational properties.

Objective: The aim of this study is to induce apomorphine sensitization and conduct non-drug exposures to the contextual cues followed by post-trial treatments designed to associate increases/decreases in dopamine activity with re-consolidation of the contextual cue conditioned stimulus.

Methods: Separate groups received five daily apomorphine (2.

Reversal of apomorphine locomotor sensitization by a single post-conditioning trial treatment with a low autoreceptor dose of apomorphine: a memory re-consolidation approach.

Sensitization is a common feature of psychostimulants and sensitization effects are generally considered to be linked to the addictive properties of these drugs. We used a conventional paired/unpaired Pavlovian protocol to induce a context specific sensitization to the locomotor stimulant effect of a high dose of apomorphine (2.0mg/kg).

Apomorphine locomotor sensitization can be potentiated by environmental change: evidence for a non-Pavlovian associative behavioral contrast factor in sensitization expression.

We investigated environmental contrast effects on the expression of apomorphine locomotor sensitization by using two arena formats (round and square) that elicited differential levels of spontaneous locomotion. Eight groups of rats received 3 daily injections of apomorphine (APO) (2.0mg/kg) or vehicle (VEH) to induce locomotor sensitization: four groups in the square arena (2 APO and 2 VEH) and four in the round arena (2 APO and 2 VEH).

Apomorphine conditioning and sensitization: the paired/unpaired treatment order as a new major determinant of drug conditioned and sensitization effects.

Repeated treatments with psychostimulant drugs generate behavioral sensitization. In the present study we employed a paired/unpaired protocol to assess the effects of repeated apomorphine (2.0 mg/kg) treatments upon locomotion behavior.

Reversal of neuronal and cognitive consequences of amphetamine sensitization following chronic treatment with a D1 antagonist.

Neuroplasticity is a key factor in restoration of brain function following neuropathology associated with disease or drug exposure. Here we examined the potential for chronic treatment with the selective D1 receptor antagonist SCH39166 to reverse the profound and enduring cognitive impairment associated with amphetamine (AMPH) sensitization in the nonhuman primate and to stimulate re-growth of atrophied pyramidal dendrites in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex of these animals. Four rhesus monkeys with sustained cognitive impairment (>1year following AMPH sensitization) were treated for up to 8months with SCH39166.

Apomorphine-induced context-specific behavioural sensitization is prevented by the D1 antagonist SCH-23390 but potentiated and uncoupled from contextual cues by the D2 antagonist sulpiride.

Rationale: In the study of behavioural sensitization induced by dopamine agonists, D1 and D2 receptors have a critical, but a puzzling role.

Objective: The objective of this study is to examine the effects of the D1 antagonist SCH-23390 and the D2 antagonist sulpiride given repeatedly alone or in combination with apomorphine upon apomorphine conditioning and sensitization.

Methods: Apomorphine-induced (2.

Behavioral sensitization to dopaminergic inhibitory and stimulatory effects induced by low vs. high dose apomorphine treatments: an unconventional dose and response reversal sensitization challenge test reveals sensitization mechanisms.

Low dose apomorphine treatments preferentially activate dopamine autoreceptors and inhibit dopamine neurons as well as behavior. In contrast, high doses of apomorphine induce locomotor stimulation by activating dopamine postsynaptic receptors. We compared the effects of low (0.

Low dose apomorphine induces context-specific sensitization of hypolocomotion without conditioning: support for a new state dependent retrieval hypothesis of drug conditioning and sensitization.

High doses of apomorphine induce sensitization to locomotor stimulant effects whereas low doses induce locomotor inhibition. We examined whether repeated low dose apomorphine induced sensitization and conditioning to the locomotor inhibitory effect. Three doses of the D1/D2 agonist, apomorphine, were used in a Pavlovian conditioning protocol: 0.

The expression of locomotor sensitization to apomorphine is dependent on time interval between injection and testing.

This study examined the onset of locomotor sensitization induced by apomorphine as a function of the temporal delay between drug injection and testing. In experiment 1, rats received three daily administrations of 2.0 mg/kg apomorphine or vehicle either immediately (0 min) or 20 min before being placed into the test environment for 20 min test sessions.

7-OH-DPAT effects on latent inhibition: low dose facilitation but high dose blockade: implications for dopamine receptor involvement in attentional processes.

7-OH-DPAT is a dopamine D2/D3 agonist, which at low doses acts preferentially on D3 receptors but at high doses it acts on D2 and D3 receptors. The present study investigated the contribution of D3 and D2 receptors on latent inhibition (LI) by using two dose levels of 7-OH-DPAT: a low dose, 0.1 mg/kg (D3 receptor activation) and a high dose, 1.

Behavioral sensitization produced by a single administration of apomorphine: implications for the role of Pavlovian conditioning in the mediation of context-specific sensitization.

The present study examined the minimal number of exposures to the D1/D2 agonist apomorphine capable of producing behavioral sensitization. Rats received one (experiment 1) or two administrations on two successive days (experiment 2) of apomorphine (0.5 and 2.

Spermatogenesis in white-lipped peccaries (Tayassu pecari).

We describe here morphological and functional analyses of the spermatogenic process in sexually mature white-lipped peccaries. Ten sexually mature male animals, weighing approximately 39 kg were studied. Characteristics investigated included the gonadosomatic index (GSI), relative frequency of stages of the cycle of seminiferous epithelium (CSE), cell populations present in the seminiferous epithelium in stage 1 of CSE, intrinsic rate of spermatogenesis, Sertoli cell index, height of seminiferous epithelium and diameter of seminiferous tubules, volumetric proportion of components of the testicular parenchyma and length of seminiferous tubules per testis and per gram of testis.

Conditioned locomotion induced by unilateral intrastriatal administration of apomorphine: D(2) receptor activation is critical but not the expression of the unconditioned response.

The present study examined the role of D(1) and D(2) receptors in the conditioning of apomorphine-induced locomotor behavior. A Pavlovian conditioning protocol was used in which rats received 5 daily intrastriatal apomorphine treatments paired or unpaired to an open-field environment followed, 2 days later, by a saline test for conditioning. In the conditioning induction phase, the intrastriatal apomorphine treatment increased locomotor activity expressed as an increased number of sectional crossings and rearings.

The intertubular compartment morphometry in capybaras (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) testis.

The aim of the present study was to characterize the intertubule element volume density, individual and total Leydig cells volume, Leydig cell number per testis and per gram of testis, and leydigosomatic index in adult capybaras. Eight capybaras from a commercial abattoir were utilized. The intertubular compartment volume density and the Leydig cells were 45.

Sucrose hydrolases from the midgut of the sugarcane stalk borer Diatraea saccharalis.

A beta-fructosidase (EC 3.2.1.