Behavioural brain research
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Etifoxine is an anxiolytic compound structurally unrelated to benzodiazepine and neurosteroids but potentiating GABA(A) receptor function by a dual mode of action including a direct positive allosteric modulation through a site distinct from that of benzodiazepines. Etifoxine has been shown to possess some anxiolytic-like effects in rodents. ⋯ The present results demonstrated that etifoxine effect was modulated by 5-HT(2A) ligands co-administration. The large literature concerning GABA and 5-HT suggests that they could be co-released and could act as co-transmitters in some regions of the CNS and cross-communication between the two neurotransmitters might be an important modulator process of neuronal activity.
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The aim of the present study was to test the hypothesis that the TRPV4-NO-cGMP-PKG cascade is involved in the maintenance of thermal hyperalgesia following chronic compression of the dorsal root ganglion (DRG) (the procedure hereafter termed CCD) in rats. CCD rats showed thermal hyperalgesia and increased nitrite production. ⋯ In addition, the phorbol ester 4alpha-phorbol 12,13-didecanoate (4alpha-PDD, TRPV4 synthetic activator, 1 nmol), co-administered with L-NAME (300 nmol), attenuated the suppressive effect of L-NAME on CCD-induced thermal hyperalgesia and nitrite production. Our data suggested that the TRPV4-NO-cGMP-PKG pathway could be involved in CCD-induced thermal hyperalgesia.
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Exercise is associated with improved cognitive function in humans as well as improved learning across a range of tasks in rodents. Although these studies provide a strong link between exercise and learning, to date studies have largely focused on tasks that principally involve the hippocampus. However, exercise has been shown to produce alterations in other brain areas suggesting that the cognitive enhancing effects of exercise may be more general. ⋯ Fear conditioning was not enhanced in mice that began exercising 2 weeks after fear conditioning. Taken together these results suggest that voluntary exercise improves the learning and consolidation of cued conditioned fear but does not improve the retrieval or performance of conditioned fear. Because a great deal is known about the neural circuit for cued conditioned fear, it is now possible to examine the cellular, molecular and pharmacological changes associated with exercise in this well-understood neural circuit.
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Cognitive deficits are a major clinical unmet need in schizophrenia. The psychotomimetic drug phencyclidine (PCP) is widely applied in rodents to mimic symptoms of schizophrenia, including cognitive deficits. Previous studies have shown that sub-chronic PCP induces an enduring episodic memory deficit in female Lister Hooded rats in the novel object recognition (NOR) task. ⋯ Female Lister hooded rats were treated sub-chronically with either vehicle (0.9% saline) or PCP (2mg/kg two doses per day for 7 days), followed by a 7 days washout period. 30 min prior to the acquisition trial of the NOR task animals were dosed with either vehicle, CX546 (10, 40 or 80 mg/kg) or CX516 (0.5, 2.5, 10, 40 or 80 mg/kg). Our results show that sub-chronic PCP treatment induced a significant decrease in the discrimination index (DI) and both ampakines CX546 and CX516 were able to reverse this disruption of object memory in rats in the novel object recognition task. These data suggest that positive AMPAR modulation may represent a mechanism for treatment of cognitive deficits in schizophrenia.
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Co-infusion of ultra-low dose naloxone and morphine attenuates morphine tolerance through the prevention of mu opioid receptor-Gs protein coupling. We previously demonstrated that chronic intrathecal infusion of morphine leads to tolerance and spinal neuroinflammation. The aim of present study was to examine the possible mechanisms by which ultra-low dose naloxone modulates spinal neuroinflammation, particularly the role of anti-inflammatory cytokine interleukin 10 (IL-10). ⋯ The increase of IL-10 protein and mRNA were 1.5- and 3-fold, respectively, compared to that in morphine-infused rat spinal cords. A combination of daily rrIL-10 (1 microg) injection with morphine infusion produced, in a less potent, preservative antinociception and inhibited pro-inflammatory cytokine production compared to ultra-low dose naloxone co-infusion, and the effect of ultra-low dose naloxone co-infusion was inhibited by daily intrathecal anti-rat IL-10 antibody injection. These results demonstrate that IL-10 contributes to the attenuation of pro-inflammatory cytokine expression caused by ultra-low dose naloxone/morphine co-infusion and thus the attenuation of morphine tolerance.