Pharmacology, biochemistry, and behavior
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Pharmacol. Biochem. Behav. · Jan 2014
The involvement of dorsal hippocampus in dextromethorphan-induced state-dependent learning in mice.
In an effort to understand the effect of dextromethorphan (DM; 3-methoxy-17-methylmorphinan), a noncompetitive antagonist of the N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptors on memory retrieval, male NMRI mice received intraperitoneal (i.p.) or intra-CA1 injection of this drug before or after training and before testing in passive avoidance task. Pre-training i.p. (20mg/kg) or intra-CA1 (0.5 and 1 μg/mouse) administration of DM induced amnesia in a dose-dependent manner. Post-training i.p. (10 and 20mg/kg) or intra-CA administration of DM (0.5 and 1 μg/mouse) however, did not affect the memory retrieval. ⋯ Taken together, it can be concluded that DM administration impairs memory retrieval in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Moreover, DM can induce state-dependent learning. Dorsal hippocampus appears to play an important role upon DM influence of learning and memory processes.
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Pharmacol. Biochem. Behav. · Dec 2013
Effect of ω-conotoxin MVIIA and Phα1β on paclitaxel-induced acute and chronic pain.
The treatment with the chemotherapeutic agent paclitaxel produces a painful peripheral neuropathy, and is associated with an acute pain syndrome in a clinically significant number of patients. However, no standard therapy has been established to manage the acute pain or the chronic neuropathic pain related to paclitaxel. In the present study, we evaluated the analgesic potential of two N-type voltage-gated calcium channel (VGCC) blockers, ω-conotoxin MVIIA and Phα1β, on acute and chronic pain induced by paclitaxel. ⋯ When administered at the acute painful stage, ω-conotoxin MVIIA (300pmol/site, i.t.) and Phα1β (300pmol/site, i.t.) prevented the worsening of chronic mechanical hyperalgesia. Furthermore, Phα1β (30-300pmol/site, i.t.) elicited less adverse effects than ω-conotoxin MVIIA (10-300 pmol/site, i.t.). Taken together, our data evidence the involvement of N-type VGCC in pain sensitization induced by paclitaxel and point out the potential of Phα1β as a safer alternative than ω-conotoxin MVIIA to treat the pain related to paclitaxel.
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Pharmacol. Biochem. Behav. · Dec 2013
The dopamine antagonist cis-flupenthixol blocks the expression of the conditioned positive but not the negative effects of cocaine in rats.
Human cocaine users report that the initial "high" produced by cocaine administration is followed by an anxiogenic "crash". Given that cocaine has such robust and opposing properties, it is likely that both positive and negative effects of cocaine contribute to an individual's motivation to administer the drug. Despite this likelihood, the neurobiology underlying cocaine's dual processes remains unclear. ⋯ As expected, vehicle-treated control animals developed the normal pattern of CPPs for cocaine's immediate effects or CPAs for the delayed effects of cocaine. However, while DA receptor antagonism prevented the expression of cocaine CPPs it did not alter the expression of cocaine-induced CPAs. These data confirm a role for DA transmission in cocaine reward but suggest that different neural pathways mediate the drug's negative/anxiogenic properties.
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An association between chronic pain conditions and alcohol dependence has been revealed in numerous studies with episodes of alcohol abuse antedating chronic pain in some people and alcohol dependence emerging after the onset of chronic pain in others. Alcohol dependence and chronic pain share common neural circuits giving rise to the possibility that chronic pain states could significantly affect alcohol use patterns and that alcohol dependence could influence pain sensitivity. The reward and emotional pathways that regulate drug/alcohol addiction also mediate chronic pain. ⋯ In addition, long term alcohol use could induce pain symptoms and may exacerbate chronic pain arising from other sources. While prior studies have established a role of neuroendocrine stress axis mediators in alcohol abuse and neurotoxic effects, these studies have not explored the distinction between the individual impact of alcohol and stress hormones. Future studies should explore the mechanisms mediating the contribution of alcohol and stress axis hormones on pain, an important question in our understanding of the neurobiology of alcohol abuse and chronic pain.
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Pharmacol. Biochem. Behav. · Nov 2013
Antidepressant-like activity of resveratrol treatment in the forced swim test and tail suspension test in mice: the HPA axis, BDNF expression and phosphorylation of ERK.
Resveratrol is a natural polyphenol enriched in Polygonum cuspidatum and has diverse biological activities. There is only limited information about the antidepressant-like effect of resveratrol. The present study assessed whether resveratrol treatment (20, 40 and 80mg/kg, i.p., 21days) has an antidepressant-like effect on the forced swim test (FST) and tail suspension test (TST) in mice and examined what its molecular targets might be. ⋯ Moreover, resveratrol increased brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) protein and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) phosphorylation levels in the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus. All of these antidepressant-like effects of resveratrol were essentially similar to those observed with the clinical antidepressant, fluoxetine. These results suggest that the antidepressant-like effects of resveratrol in the FST and TST are mediated, at least in part, by modulating hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, BDNF and ERK phosphorylation expression in the brain region of mice.