Evoked potentials recorded from the auditory cortex in man: evaluation and topography of the middle latency components

The goal of this study is to determine and localize the generators of different components of middle latency auditory evoked potentials (MLAEPs) through intracerebral recording in auditory cortex in man (Heschl's gyrus and planum temporale).The present results show that the generators of components at 30, 50, 60 and 75 msec latency are distributed medio-laterally along Heschl's gyrus. The 30 msec component is generated in the dorso-postero-medial part of Heschl's gyrus (primary area) and the 50 msec component is generated laterally in the primary area. The generators of the later components (60–75 msec) are localized in the lateral part of Heschl's gyrus that forms the secondary areas.The localization of N100 generators is discussed.     

Effect of para-chlorophenylalanine and 5-hydroxytryptophan on the caudate nucleus in cats]

In unrestrained cats parachlorophenylalanine, an inhibitor of serotonin synthesis, increased the thresholds of the contraversive reaction and arrest reaction accompanied by spindle-waves in the sensory-motor cortex in the stimulation of the rostro-ventral areas of the caudate nucleus. The reactions evoked from the dorso-medial areas of the head and the body of the nucleus changed differently. On the contrary, 5-hydroxytryptophane, serotonin precursor, increased most of the indices of the caudate activity independently of the site of stimulation. It is suggested that the serotoninergic mechanisms (antagonistic to the dophaminergic system) existing in the ventral part of the caudate nucleus may trigger some caudate functions.     

Oxygen consumption in organs of rats treated with serotonin

The serotonin injected intraperitoneally in rats (20 mg/Kg of body weight) increases the oxygen utilization of slices of heart, liver and muscle with a maximum value after 60 min from the injection. The serotonin, probably, acts on intracellular metabolism increasing some enzymatic activities or metabolic pathways.     

Effect of caerulein on decreased latency of passive avoidance response in rats treated with NMDA receptor antagonists

The effect of subcutaneous injection of caerulein on memory impairment induced by intracerebroventricular administration of NMDA receptor antagonists was examined in the passive avoidance response of the rat. When rats were treated with AP5, AP7, CPP or MK-801, the retention latencies decreased markedly. However, in rats that received caerulein immediately after the training trials, the latency increased to some extent. Pretreatment with caerulein and subsequent injection of the competitive NMDA receptor antagonists AP5, AP7 and CPP caused a more apparent increase in the latency. The noncompetitive NMDA receptor antagonist MK-801 was not affected by pretreatment with caerulein. The difference might be, at least in part, due to the sites of action of these NMDA receptor antagonists.     

Changes in liver and muscle glycogen in rats treated with serotonin

The authors have put in evidence that the 5-HT (20 mg/Kg b.w.) injected intraperitoneally in four days fasting rats and drinking water, causes an almost complete glycogenolysis in liver and muscles. When the 5-HT is injected in four days fasting rats but drinking a water solution (20%) of glucose, the amount of glycogen, in both organs, is marked increased.     

Evoked dopamine overflow is augmented in the striatum of calcitriol treated rats

Calcitriol, the active metabolite of vitamin D, has been shown to have significant effects on the brain. These actions include reducing the severity of some central nervous system lesions, possibly by upregulating trophic factors such as glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF). GDNF has substantial effects on the nigrostriatal dopamine (DA) system of young adult, aged and lesioned animals. Thus, the administration of calcitriol may lead to significant effects on nigrostriatal DA neuron functioning. The present experiments were designed to examine the ability of calcitriol to alter striatal DA release, and striatal and nigral tissue levels of DA. Male Fischer-344 rats were administered vehicle or calcitriol (0.3, 1.0, or 3.0 μg/kg, s.c.) once daily for eight consecutive days. Three weeks later in vivo microdialysis experiments were conducted to measure basal and stimulus evoked overflow of DA from the striatum. Basal levels of extracellular DA were not significantly affected by the calcitriol treatments. However, the 1.0 and 3.0 μg/kg doses of calcitriol led to increases in both potassium and amphetamine evoked overflow of striatal DA. Although post-mortem tissue levels of striatal DA were not altered by the calcitriol injections, nigral tissue levels of DA and its main metabolites were increased by both the 1.0 and 3.0 μg/kg doses of calcitriol. In a separate group of animals GDNF levels were augmented in the striatum and substantia nigra after eight consecutive daily injections of calcitriol. These results suggest that systemically administered calcitriol can upregulate dopaminergic release processes in the striatum and DA levels in the substantia nigra. Increases in the levels of endogenous GDNF following calcitriol treatment may in part be responsible for these changes. The ability of calcitriol to lead to augmented DA release in the striatum suggests that calcitriol may be beneficial in disease processes involving dopaminergic dysfunction.     

Amplitude,latency, and habituation of the electrodermal response to acoustic stimuli in the frog

The electrodermal response (EDR) of frogs to various acoustic stimuli was measured in the form of the skin potential response (SPR). There was no correlation between the polarity of the SPR and the intensity of the stimuli. When different frequencies were presented at the same intensity, the amplitude of the SPR to each was inversely proportional to the sound pressure at which that frequency just elicited an SPR. The amplitude of the sound-induced SPR increased monotonically with increasing sound pressure. The latency of the SPR decreased with increasing intensity of the acoustic stimulus. Acoustic stimuli repeated at intervals of 1 and 2 min elicited responses with progressively decreased amplitude and increased latency; with 4 min intervals there was little habituation. Fatigue participates to only a very slight extent in reducing the amplitude of the SPR and increasing its latency. The results are compared with the published data on frogs and mammals, including humans.     

Central pool of serotonin and tail-flick latency during two phases of biphasic fever in rats

In experiments on male Wistar rats, the acute phase reaction was induced by a bolus intravenous injection of Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide (10 microg/kg) through a silicon catheter pre-implanted into the jugular vein. The colonic and skin temperature was measured with thermocouples. Changes in nociception were assessed based on tail flick latency (TFL) in response to a noxious heat stimulus. In this work, we observed the development of biphasic fever and phasic changes in TFL, namely, hyperalgesia in the first period of the acute phase reaction and hypoalgesia in its second phase. The catabolism of serotonin increased most considerably in the initial period of the acute phase reaction in the midbrain, striatum, and rostrodorsomedial medulla (on average, by 20-25%, 35-40%, and 95-100%, respectively). In the second phase of the acute phase reaction, despite a significant increase in the serotonin content in the striatum, midbrain, and cerebellum, there were no significant changes in serotonin catabolism in these parts of the CNS, which coincided with hypoalgesia. Thus, the phasic changes in TFL and colonic temperature after initiation of the acute phase reaction were accompanied by determinate changes in the catabolism of serotonin in different brain parts.     

Thyroid hormone plasmatic levels in rats treated with serotonin in acute and chronic way

Many experiments show that serotonin (5-HT) controls thyroidal function at hypothalamic level, inhibiting the TRH secretion. The majority of experiments are done in an acute way, consisting of a single serotonin dose injected intraperitoneally (ip) or intracerebroventricularly (ic) with the effect registered after a short time (usually 1 h) as in normal environmental conditions similar to the TSH stimulation test, that consists of transfer of the experimental animals from 30°C to 4°C for 30 min, thus inducing stimulation of the hypothalamus-hypophysis-thyroid axis. The aim of the present research was to study the correlation between 5-HT and the thyroidal function, measuring plasmatic thyroid hormone levels in rats ip treated in chronic (injected daily for 10 days with different doses of 5-HT), and in acute way (after 1 h from a single 2.0 mg/kg bw 5-HT dose) in normal environmental conditions to evidence the serotonin site action activity outside the blood-brain barrier. The results of the chronic experiment show an inhibitory effect of 5-HT, on T3 and T4 plasmatic level, only when it is injected at medium doses (0.2 and 0.4 mg/kg bw for T3, and 0.2 for T4), while the results of the acute experiment do not evidence any modification. These results show that in normal environmental conditions the outside 5-HT site action is active only when the 5-HT is injected chronically at defined doses, probably for a down-regulation phenomenon.     

Analysis of cellular components in immunocompetent organs treated with ionizing radiations]

The nucleic acid and protein content has been evaluated in lymphoid cells from the thymus and the Bursa of Fabricius of chicks exposed to different doses of radiation. A different response to radiation damage of the two cell populations is suggested by these analysis when compared with ultrastructural data.     

大鼠脑干听觉诱发电位和中潜伏期反应的生后发育

目的：探讨大鼠脑干听觉诱发电位（BAEP）和听觉中潜伏期反应(MLR)生后发育模式的异同。方法：在同一批新生SD纯种大鼠连续10周同时观察BAEP和MLR生后发育的变化。结果：BAEP和MLR分别在生后14d和17d出现;BAEP各波峰潜伏期（PL）随鼠龄增长而递减,生后3－4周是PL缩短的主要时期,I波PL在生后29d达成年值,其余各波PL在生后70d全部达成年值;首次出现的MLR,其Po和Na两波PL已达成年值,而Pa、Nb和Pb和PL也随鼠龄增长而缩短,但生后20－23d很快就达成年值;BAEP的Ⅰ、Ⅲ、Ⅳ波和MLR的Nb、Pb波波幅在生后3－4周期间迅速递增,且峰值明显大于成年值,然后逐渐回降。结论：大鼠MLR和BAEP生后发育的模式基本相同,但MLR各波PL较早达成年值。     

Enhanced early after-myocardial infarction concentration of TNF-alpha subsequently increased circulating and myocardial adrenomedullin in spontaneously hypertensive rats

Both inflammatory cytokine tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and the cardiac protective peptide adrenomedullin (AM) are increased in cardiac tissues and plasma in patients with myocardial infarction (MI) and chronic heart failure. Recently they have been increasingly recognized as important factors in the pathophysiology of MI and resultant congestive heart failure. Compared with sham-operated spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR), we investigated myocardial immunoreactivity of TNF-alpha and AM and also their mutual relations in vivo in SHR+MI. Residual myocardial depression after MI was studied also in isolated perfused hearts. In chronic experiments, 24 and 48 h after permanent ligation of the descending anterior branch of the left coronary artery, we examined hemodynamics, plasma and myocardial peptide levels. Left ventricular function was assessed in isolated perfused hearts subjected to "global ischemia and reperfusion" and after induction of "calcium paradox". Circulating and myocardial TNF-alpha concentrations increased early after MI in SHR. Studies with global ischemia and calcium paradox in isolated heart showed early myocardial depression and calcium-dependent gradual increase of left-ventricular end-diastolic pressure. In the SHR+MI myocardial AM concentrations were increased 9- and 49-fold after respective 24 h and culminated 48 h following MI. Circulating and myocardial AM was increased in SHR+MI in association with TNFalpha-induced myocardial depression. The both studied cardiac parameters displayed the beneficial effect of the enhanced myocardial AM concentration.