Neuroscience letters
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Neuroscience letters · May 1995
Fucoidin, a polysaccharide inhibiting leukocyte rolling, attenuates inflammatory responses in experimental pneumococcal meningitis in rats.
It is presumed that adjuvant therapy rather than new antibiotics will improve the prognosis of pneumococcal meningitis. We investigated the effect of fucoidin, a polysaccharide inhibiting leukocyte rolling, on inflammatory changes in experimental meningitis in rats. ⋯ Fucoidin treatment in the meningitis group reduced all inflammatory changes, whereas fucoidin treatment of animals without meningitis increased blood white cell count, but had no effect on any other parameter. Our results confirm that selectins are involved in the early phase of pneumococcal meningitis and possibly are a target for adjunctive therapy.
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In mice, activation of sigma1 receptors antagonizes opioid analgesia. Sigma antagonists potentiate opioid analgesia, implying that the anti-opioid sigma system is tonically active. Co-administration of haloperidol with the mu opioid morphine, the kappa 1 analgesic U50,488H or the kappa 3 agonist naloxone benzoylhydrazone enhances the analgesic activity of all agents. The effect results from sigma receptor blockade since (-)sulpiride, a selective D2 antagonist which does not block sigma receptors, is inactive.