Differential Effects of Long-Term Electroconvulsive Shock on Brain Levels of Enkephalin and Humoral-Endorphin

Abstract: Electroconvulsive shock (ECS) administrations repeated for 10 consecutive days cause an elevation in the opioid content of the rat brain. Two different endogenous opioids, enkephalin and humoral-endorphin, undergo independent changes that differ in both their time course and intracerebral localization. These metabolic changes parallel long-term behavioral modifications such as the development and dissipation of tolerance to the analgesic effect of ECS. The activation of two different, independent, endogenous opioid systems by ECS is in agreement with previous behavioral and pharmacological studies.     

Haematological and biochemical reference intervals for farmed channel catfish

The reference intervals for biochemical variables and red blood cell indices of healthy intensively bred channel catfish Ictalurus punctatus were determined. The blood variables were determined using standardized clinical methods. The reference intervals (25th and 75th percentiles) were established using a non-parametric method. Reference intervals for plasma glucose, serum total protein, sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, chloride concentration, primary and secondary red blood cell indices were established. The haematological and biochemical reference intervals established may allow important clinical decisions about channel catfish.     

Herbicide tolerant regenerates of potato

Summary Culture-derived plants and cell cultures of potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) respond to the application of the herbicides SYS 67 ME (MCPA) and OMNIDEL (Na-2,2-dichloropropionate) in a comparable fashion. By gradually increasing the herbicide concentration, cell lines were developed which tolerated 50 mg/l of ME or 300 mg/l of OMNIDEL. Any further increase in concentration resulted in the death of all cell cultures. From cell cultures that had been able to grow on media supplemented with 30 mg/l of ME, regenerate plants were obtained that were also tolerant to this concentration. This new trait was retained even after repeated vegetative propagation of the plants.     

Effect of Ethanol Administration on Striatal D1 and D2 Dopamine Receptors

Chronic in vivo exposure of rats to ethanol in a complete liquid diet for 14 or 21 days produced a behavioral tolerance to the acute injection of ethanol. After 21 days, but not 14 days, of chronic exposure, there was a significant increase in the maximum density of striatal D1 and D2 dopamine receptors without a change in these receptors' affinities. A 24-h withdrawal from the 21-day exposure did not alter the observed increase in density. Both the level and duration of ethanol exposure appear to be important variables for demonstration of an increase in striatal D1 and D2 dopamine receptors.     

Effects of spring and autumn fires on the composition of Chionochloa rigida tussock grassland,New Zealand

Two areas of Chionochloa rigida tussock grassland on Flagstaff Hill were burnt in autumn and spring 1976, respectively. Plant species cover and frequency were recorded in 1977 and 1985. Initially, plant cover and frequency were lower, and the area of bare ground was greater, on the autumn burnt site. After nine years, cover and frequency values were similar for most species, and bare ground was rare, on both sites. Over this period, recovery in size of indigenous tussock-forming physiognomic dominants resulted in suppression of intertussock sub-shrubs, herbs and grasses that were initially favoured by reduction of competition after fire. Plant species most tolerant of fire have features that protect the meristem, for instance an underground perennating organ or dense tillering.     

Tolerance ofHolcus lanatus andAgrostis stolonifera to sodium chloride in soil solution and saline spray

Summary Inland and sea cliff populations of bothAgrostis stolonifera L. andHolcus lanatus L. were subjected to soil NaCl treatments, of 100 and 200 mol m⁻³ NaCl, and tolerance examined using plant dry weight data. A parallel experiment subjected them to salt spray treatments of 2.5%, 5% and 10% NaCl in distilled water, and tolerance assessed from leaf damage. Both populations of each species were equally sensitive to soil NaCl. When subjected to salt spray the sea cliff populations however showed marked resistance to leaf damage. Soil salinity resistance and salt spray resistance thus appear to be independent characteristics in these two species.     

Subcellular Compartmentation of Opioid Receptors: Modulation by Enkephalin and Alkaloids

Abstract: A subclone of NG108–15 neuroblastoma-glioma hybrid cells was used to study the intracellular distribution of opioid receptors. Subcellular organelles were separated on self-generating Percoll-sucrose gradients and the enzymes β-glucuronidase, galactosyltransferase, 5′-nucleotidase, and glucose-6-phosphatase were used as markers to localize the various structures. Analysis of the receptor distribution from untreated cells shows that the plasma membranes contained the highest receptor density, but a significant portion of the opioid binding sites was unevenly distributed between the lysosomes, microsomes, and Golgi elements. The enzyme markers indicated that appearance of opioid receptors in these intracellular structures does not result merely from contamination with plasma membranes. About 11% of the receptors appeared in a fraction lighter than plasma membranes. The antilysosomal agent chloroquine altered the intracellular compartmentation of the receptors, possibly by blocking their translocation in the cells. Leu-enkephalin induced time-dependent loss of receptors from all four intracellular compartments examined, but a kinetic analysis showed that the rate of receptor loss in these fractions was not identical. Thus, the percent of receptors appearing in the lysosomal fraction that could still bind [³H]-D-Ala²D-Leu⁵-enkephalin in vitro was increased on treatment with Leu-enkephalin. As an additional approach to follow the intracellular fate of the receptors, cells were labeled with [³H]diprenorphine, chased with various unlabeled opiates, and the distribution of ³H-ligand-receptors in the cells was monitored. Leu-enkephalin and etorphine altered the distribution of receptor-bound [³H]diprenorphine between the plasma membranes, lysosomes, and Golgi elements, whereas morphine had no such effect. The study sheds light on the role of intracellular structures in the metabolism of opioid receptors in untreated and opioid-treated cells.     

Lack of Stereoselectivity in Ability of Nicotine to Release Dopamine from Rat Synaptosomal Preparations

Both the naturally occurring (-)-isomer and the synthetic (+)-isomer of nicotine caused release of 3H from a crude synaptosomal fraction of rat brain preincubated with [3H]dopamine. The isomers were equipotent in producing this response, which was concentration-dependent, a significant effect on the fractional release of dopamine being observed at 10(-4) M nicotine. The effect did not appear to be the result of synaptosomal damage, as levels of the intrasynaptosomal marker lactate dehydrogenase did not increase in the supernatant. Nicotine-induced release was inhibited by removal of external Ca2+ and by the presence in vitro of pempidine (230 microM). Neither hexamethonium (500 microM) in vitro nor the chronic administration of (-)-nicotine in vivo had any effect on the nicotine-induced release of [3H]dopamine. It is concluded that nicotine exerts this effect via a presynaptic nicotinic receptor of the "ganglionic" type, but that this receptor differs from that in the periphery by showing a relative lack of stereospecificity. There is no evidence of a functional "down regulation" in this receptor on chronic exposure to nicotine in vivo.     

Germanium toxicity in selected bacterial and yeast strains

Summary The toxicity of germanium dioxide (GeO₂) to 21 bacterial and 13 yeast strains was investigated in liquid broth medium to obtain information on strains tolerant to high (1 to 2 mg/ml) GeO₂ concentrations.Arthrobacter sp. NRC 32005,enterobacter aerogenes NRC 2926,Klebsiella aerogenes NCTC 418 andPseudomonas putida NRC 5019 were tolerant to 1 mg/ml GeO₂.Bacillus sp. RC607 was able to grow in the presence of 2 mg/ml GeO₂ at pH 10 in broth culture. The yeastsCandida guilliermondii, Candida shehatae andPachysolen tannophilus were the most sensitive to GeO₂ as evidenced by their diminished growth rates at a GeO₂ concentration as low as 0.1 mg/ml. None of the yeast strains tested exhibited growth in the presence of 1 mg/ml GeO₂. The high pH of the medium containing germanium may be partially responsible for the growth inhibition of the yeast cultures. Select bacterial cultures previously exposed to 1 mg/ml GeO₂ could tolerate and grow better at 2 mg/ml GeO₂, suggesting the existence of very efficient adaptive mechanisms. The pH of the medium could modulate GeO₂ tolerance and this effect was found to be strain-dependent.     

Plant community structure in an oligohaline tidal marsh

An oligohaline tidal marsh on the northern shore of Lake Pontchartrain, LA was characterized with respect to the distributions and abundances of plant species over spatial and temporal gradients using Detrended Correspondence Analysis (DCA). In addition, the species distributions were correlated to several physical environmental factors using Detrended Canonical Correspondence Analysis (DCCA). The distributions of species were best correlated with distance from Lake Pontchartrain, and to a lesser extent with elevation and substrate organic matter. They were least correlated with mean soil salinity (referred to here as background salinity). Of the three mid-seasonal dominant species, the perennial grass, Spartina patens, is the most salt tolerant and was found closest to the lake. Further inland the dominant perennial was Sagittaria lancifolia, which has a salt tolerance less than that of Spartina patens. The perennial sedge, Cladium jamaicense, which is the least salt tolerant of the three, was dominant furthest inland. Background salinity levels were generally low (<5 ppt.) and did not explain species distributions. We hypothesize that the distribution of species is regulated by occasional storm-generated salt pulses that generate strong, short-lived salinity gradients as a function of distance from the lake. Biotic interactions likely also play a role in structuring the plant community. The distributions of several annuals depended on the size and life history of the mid-seasonal dominant perennials. Most of the annuals frequently co-occurred with Sagittaria lancifolia, which was the shortest in stature and had the least persistent canopy of the three mid-seasonal dominant perennials.Abbreviations DCA Detrended Correspondence Analysis - DCCA Detrended Canonical Correspondence Analysis