Neuroscience
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Responses to personal space (PS) violations are variable and depend (besides many other factors) on the sex of the person who enters this space. The neuronal basis of this effect is still largely unknown. A previous neuroimaging investigation had shown that male participants responded with increased amygdala activation to PS violation, but only when the intruder was male. ⋯ When the approaching person was male additional amygdala activation was detected. Because the amygdala is a central structure for the initiation of defense responses, the heightened activation might reflect that male intrusion was decoded as potential threat. Hence, we observed a similar gender bias to simulated space intrusion in women as previously in men.
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Hypoglycemia is defined by an arbitrary plasma glucose level lower than 3.9mmol/L and is a most common and feared adverse effect of treatment of diabetes mellitus. Emerging evidences demonstrated that hypoglycemia could induce enhanced apoptosis. Lithium chloride (LiCl), a FDA approved drug clinically used for treatment of bipolar disorders, is recently proven having neuroprotection against various stresses in the cellular and animal models of neural disorders. ⋯ Hypoglycemia-induced apoptosis were significantly reversed by LiCl, leading to increased cell survival. LiCl also alters the expression/levels of the Wnt pathway genes/proteins, which were reduced due to exposed to hypoglycemia. Overall, our results conclude that LiCl provides neuroprotection against hypoglycemia-induced apoptosis via activation of the canonical Wnt signaling pathway.
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AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is a master enzyme that regulates ATP-sensitive K(+) (K-ATP) channels in pancreatic beta-cells and cardiac myocytes. We used patch pipettes to record currents and potentials to investigate effects of AMPK on K-ATP currents in substantia nigra compacta (SNC) dopamine neurons in slices of rat midbrain. When slices were superfused repeatedly with the K-ATP channel opener diazoxide, we were surprised to find that diazoxide currents gradually increased in magnitude, reaching 300% of the control value 60min after starting whole-cell recording. ⋯ However, superfusion with A769662 significantly augmented the inhibitory effect of diazoxide on firing rate. We conclude that K-ATP channel function is augmented by AMPK, which is activated during the process of making whole-cell recordings. Our results suggest that AMPK and K-ATP interactions may play an important role in regulating dopamine neuronal excitability.
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Brain bioenergetic abnormalities in mood disorders were detected by neuroimaging in vivo studies in humans. Because of the increasing importance of mitochondrial pathogenetic hypothesis of Depression, in this study the effects of sub-chronic treatment (21days) with desipramine (15mg/kg) and fluoxetine (10mg/kg) were evaluated on brain energy metabolism. ⋯ These results overcome the conflicting data so far obtained with antidepressants on brain energy metabolism, because the enzymatic analyses were made on mitochondria with diversified neuronal in vivo localization, i.e. on somatic and synaptic. This research is the first investigation on the pharmacodynamics of antidepressants studied at subcellular level, in the perspective of (i) assessing the role of energy metabolism of cerebral mitochondria in animal models of mood disorders, and (ii) highlighting new therapeutical strategies for antidepressants targeting brain bioenergetics.
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Systemic injections of 17β-estradiol (E2) in ovariectomized (OVX) female rats rapidly enhance dorsal striatal dopamine (DA) release in response to amphetamine (AMPH). Additionally, a single injection of E2 rapidly (within 30min) enhances amphetamine-induced DA release. In situ studies show that this rapid effect of E2 occurs specifically within the dorsal striatum (DS). ⋯ Local infusions of E2 into the DS resulted in a greater amphetamine-induced dorsal striatal DA release in comparison to vehicle. Local infusions of E2 into the mPFC or the SN did not result in an enhancement of amphetamine-induced DA levels in the DS. These studies suggest that increases in dorsal striatal DA release in response to systemic E2 are a consequence of E2 actions within the DS itself.