Neuroscience research
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Neuroscience research · Nov 1999
Lipopolysaccharide-induced microglial activation in culture: temporal profiles of morphological change and release of cytokines and nitric oxide.
Microglial activation has been considered as a result of neuronal damage, however, recently it becomes to recognize as a possible cause of the damage in various neurodegenerative diseases. To elucidate the mechanism of the microglial activation, we examined the time course of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced change in morphology and the release of cytokines and nitric oxide (NO) in cultured microglia from neonatal rat brains. With addition of 1 microg/ml LPS, the cell morphology was drastically changed within 3 h from amoeboid shape to bipolar rod shape. ⋯ The addition of dibutyryl cAMP markedly inhibited the release of TNF-alpha and IL-1beta, but not IL-6 and NO at all. These results suggest that there are at least two different intracellular signaling pathways of LPS-induced microglial activation; one for early release of TNF-alpha and IL-1beta sensitive to dibutyryl-cAMP and the other for late release of IL-6 and NO insensitive to dibutyryl-cAMP. The transient morphological change seems to be associated with the early release based on the sensitivity to dibutyryl-cAMP.
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Neuroscience research · Nov 1999
Itch-associated response induced by intradermal serotonin through 5-HT2 receptors in mice.
Serotonin (5-HT) is pruritogenic in humans and suggested to be involved in some pruritic diseases. Our experiments were carried out to determine whether an intradermal injection of 5-HT would elicit itch-associated response in mice and to elucidate the 5-HT receptor subtypes involved in this 5-HT action. 5-HT (14.1-235 nmol site(-1)) injected intradermally into the rostral back elicited scratching of the injected site, with bell-shaped dose-response relationship. The scratching induced by 5-HT (100 nmol site(-1), peak effective dose) was suppressed by capsaicin (repeated administration) and the opioid antagonist naloxone, features being similar to human itching. ⋯ Peroral pretreatment with 5-HT3 receptor antagonists ondansetron and 3-tropanyl-3, 5-dichrobenzoate did not significantly suppress 5-HT-induced scratching. The results suggest that scratching induced by intradermal injection of 5-HT is itch-associated response. The 5-HT action may be mediated at least partly by cutaneous 5-HT2 receptors.
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Neuroscience research · Nov 1998
Cerebellar control of the cardiovascular responses during postural changes in conscious rabbits.
In conscious control rabbits, tilting the head 30 degrees up from a position 30 degrees down induced initially an inhibition in the renal sympathetic nerve activity (RSNA), however this inhibition immediately released and became a transient increase. Following these responses in RSNA, blood pressure (BP) initially decreased but recovered to the control level within 3-5 s. ⋯ These results indicate that the timing and duration of this transient increase in RSNA during tilting the head up are controlled by the lateral nodulus-uvula and may be important in the rapid adaptation of blood pressure. In addition, this suggests that the lateral nodulus-uvula may play an important role in the cardiovascular control under conditions of consciousness during changes in head position and body posture.
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Neuroscience research · Oct 1998
Adaptive modifications of post-saccadic smooth pursuit eye movements and their interaction with saccades and the vestibulo-ocular reflex in the primate.
Adaptation of the horizontal smooth pursuit eye movement was examined using step-ramp moving target paradigms in chronically prepared Macaca fuscata. Monkeys were trained to pursue a small target which moved in the horizontal plane in a 3 degrees step-10 degrees/s ramp or a 0 degrees step-10 degrees/s ramp mode for 300-400 ms. When the target moved from central fixation point in a step-ramp mode, the monkeys usually responded with an initial pursuit eye movement (latency, 100-120 ms) which reached to a nearly constant velocity of 4 degrees/s in 50 100 ms, followed by a 1-3.5 degrees catch-up saccade (latency, 170-230 ms). ⋯ Adaptation of smooth pursuit did not affect the dynamics of reflex eye movements, including the horizontal vestibulo-ocular reflex (HVOR) gain and phase measured by 0.33 Hz-10 degrees (peak-to-peak) turntable oscillations in darkness. Conversely, adaptation of the HVOR gain induced by a 2 h sustained oscillation of the turntable and screen in reversed direction at 0.33 Hz-10 degrees affected little the velocity of post-saccadic pursuit or the amplitude of the catch-up saccade. These results suggest that different neural mechanisms are respectively involved for the adaptation of horizontal smooth pursuit and HVOR in the primate.
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Neuroscience research · Sep 1998
Comparative StudyImmunocytochemical localization of calretinin containing neurons in retina from rabbit, cat, and dog.
Calcium homeostasis is critical for many neuronal functions, yet the distribution of calcium-binding protein is not always conserved among species, even between closely related species. We decided therefore to study the distribution of one of these calcium-binding proteins calretinin, in retina from rabbit, cat, and dog. Calretinin was localized using antibody immunocytochemistry. ⋯ The present study suggests that calretinin immunoreactivity is present in several populations in the retina. In particular, calretinin labels AII amacrine cells and a subpopulation of ganglion cells in all three animals. Horizontal cells, however, were not labeled in rabbit.