Interactive effects of subanesthetic ketamine and subhypnotic lorazepam in humans

 Ketamine is an N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist with psychotogenic and dissociative effects in healthy humans. These cognitive and perceptual effects in humans are reportedly reduced by benzodiazepine premedication. This study assessed the interactive effects of a ketamine (IV bolus of 0.26 mg/kg followed by an infusion of 0.65 mg/kg per hour) and lorazepam 2 mg., PO, in humans. Twenty-three healthy subjects completed 4 test days involving the oral administration of lorazepam or matched placebo 2 h prior to the IV infusion of ketamine or placebo. Ketamine: 1) produced behaviors similar to the positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia as assessed by the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS); 2) evoked perceptual alterations as measured by the Clinician-Administered Dissociative States Scale (CADSS); 3) impaired performance on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) and other tests sensitive to frontal cortical impairment; and 4) had amnestic effects. Lorazepam produced attention impairments, concrete proverb interpretations, and recall impairments. Lorazepam reduced ketamine-associated emotional distress and there was a non-significant trend for it to decrease perceptual alterations produced by ketamine. However, it failed to reduce many cognitive and behavioral effects of ketamine, including psychosis. Further, lorazepam exacerbated the sedative, attention-impairing, and amnestic effects of ketamine. There was no evidence of pharmacokinetic interaction between these medications. These data suggest that subhypnotic lorazepam and ketamine show a spectrum of interactive effects, ranging from antagonism to potentiation. Received: 1 April 1996/Final version: 20 May 1997     

Chronic treatment with the uncompetitive NMDA receptor antagonist memantine influences the polyamine and glycine binding sites of the NMDA receptor complex in aged rats

Summary Receptor binding studies on rat cortical membranes were used to characterize the NMDA receptor in aged rats (22 months) treated for 20 months with a memantine containing diet delivering 30 mg/kg/day in comparison to aged and young/adult rats treated with control-diet. Spatial memory impairing effects of (+)-MK-801 (0.16 mg/kg) in the radial maze was not altered within the course of memantine-treatment (up to 16 months). However, chronic memantine-treatment significantly increased the number of [³H]MK-801 binding sites and the affinity of [³H]glycine. A non-significant trend to such changes was also seen in aged-control rats. Glycine-dependent [³H]MK-801 binding (functional binding under non-equilibrium conditions at a fixed L-glutamate concentration) revealed that a decreased ability of glycine to stimulate channel opening in aged rats was partially attenuated by the long-term memantine treatment. Furthermore, an increased ability of spermidine to enhance [³H]MK-801 binding in aged-control rats was even more pronounced in the aged memantine-treated group. Together these findings may indicate that changes in functional receptor-channel properties during the process of aging occur prior to a detectable loss of binding sites and that memantine enhances an endogenous compensatory mechanism triggered by glutamatergic hypofunction which is suggested to take place in aging.     

炎性痛诱导的大鼠背根节及脊髓后角NMDAR1表达变化的研究

目的 观察炎性痛条件下NMDA受体亚型R1(NR1)的表达变化。方法 采用福尔马林试验，在大鼠一侧足背皮下注射5％福尔马林50μL制备局部炎性痛病灶，利用痛行为测定结合组织化学方法检测大鼠背根节及脊髓后角NR1的表达变化。结果 炎症组大鼠背根节中、小型细胞及脊髓背角的NR1表达较生理盐水组显著增加，表明福尔马林刺激导致的炎症痛及痛过敏可能是通过上调NR1受体的表达而实现的。结论 NMDA受体的激活在痛觉过敏的产生和维持中起着至关重要的作用。     

组胺对N-甲基-D-天门冬氨酸诱发的神经元损伤的改善作用

目的:在细胞水平探讨组胺对N-甲基-D-天门冬氨酸 (NMDA) 诱发的神经元损伤的改善作用及初步机制.方法:采用原代新生大鼠皮层培养的方法,以形态学和二苯基四氮唑溴盐染色为指标观察神经元的损伤和药物的改善作用.结果:组胺在10-4、10-6、10-7、10-8 mol/L浓度时能显著改善NMDA 50 μmol/L作用3 h引起的神经元死亡,并在10-4和10-7 mol/L浓度时分别呈现保护双峰.组胺10-7 mol/L的改善作用只被组胺H2受体西米替丁逆转,而组胺10-4 mol/L的改善作用只被H1受体吡拉明逆转.结论:组胺能减弱NMDA诱发的神经元兴奋性死亡,其保护作用在低浓度时可能与H2受体有关,在高浓度时可能与H1受体有关.     

A Neuropharmacological Evaluation of Felbamate as a Novel Anticonvulsant

Felbamate (2-phenyl-1,3-propanediol dicarbamate, FBM) was subjected to a series of carefully selected in vivo and in vitro tests to provide additional insight into mechanism of action, margin of safety, and clinical potential. FBM was effective against intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA)-induced clonus and i.c.v. NMDA- and quisqualic acid (quis)-induced forelimb tonic extension in mice and ineffective against i.c.v. quis-induced clonus in mice. FBM was also effective in preventing the expression of Stage 5 kindled seizures in corneal-kindled rats. The calculated protective indices (rotorod median toxic dose divided by anticonvulsant median effective dose) ranged from 28 to 146 for those tests in which FBM displayed activity. With the in vitro tests, FBM did not significantly displace [3H]MK-801 from its binding site. In contrast, FBM was effective in blocking sustained repetitive firing in mouse spinal cord neurons grown in tissue culture (median inhibitory concentration 67 micrograms/ml). This effect on repetitive firing suggests indirectly that FBM modulates sodium channel conductance. The results, when compared to similar data for phenytoin, carbamazepine, valproate, and ethosuximide, support the concept that FBM is a relatively nontoxic agent with a unique profile of anticonvulsant action, a broad margin of safety, and a clinical potential that includes at least generalized tonic-clonic and complex partial seizures.     

The Role of N-Methyl-D-Aspartate-Type Glutamatergic Neurotransmission in the Photic Induction of Immediate-Early Gene Expression in the Suprachiasmatic Nuclei of the Syrian Hamster

This study investigated the role of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA)-type glutamatergic neurotransmission in mediating the photic induction of immediate-early gene expression in the Suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) of the Syrian hamster. Activation of c-fos, c-jun and egr-1 was assessed by immunocytochemical detection of their protein products. To characterize the circadian basis to the inductive effects of light, hamsters were allowed to free-run in constant dim red light and received a 1 h light pulse at different circadian phases relative to activity onset (defined as CT 12). In control animals which did not receive light pulses, c-fos and egr-1 expression was absent or restricted to a small area of the dorsolateral region of the SCN, and expression of c-jun could not be detected in the SCN. In hamsters killed after presentation of a light pulse at either CT 14 or CT 20, there was a marked increase in c-fos and egr-1 immunoreactivities throughout the ventrolateral division of the SCN. In contrast, light pulses given at CT4 or CT 8 failed to activate immediate-early gene expression. Light pulses did not induce c-jun immunoreactivity at any circadian phase tested. Staining for c-fos was maximal 1 h after the start of the light pulse and had started to decline by 2 h. At this later time, c-jun expression was still undetectable. To compare the distribution of retinal afferents with that of c-fos induction, hamsters held on a light schedule of 16 h light: 8 h dark received an intraocular injection of cholera toxin-horseradish peroxidase conjugate 3 days before exposure to a 1 h light pulse given 2 h after lights off. Comparison of adjacent sections processed for c-fos immunoreactivity or for cholera toxin-horseradish peroxidase revealed that light-induced c-fos expression was precisely restricted to retinal terminal fields in the SCN. Light pulses also induced c-fos expression in the retinoreceptive ventral lateral geniculate nucleus and intergeniculate leaflet but not in the retinal fields of the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus, indicating that the expression of cfos in response to light is spatially specific. The aim of the subsequent experiments was to investigate the role of NMDA-type glutamatergic neurotransmission in mediating the effects of light on c-fos expression in the SCN. To determine whether NMDA had the potential to activate c-fos expression in the SCN, hamsters were infused with 2.5 nmol NMDA or vehicle via an intracerebroventricular (icv) cannula positioned adjacent to the nuclei. In contrast to the effects of light, icv NMDA activated c-fos expression at both CT8 and CT 14. The distribution of immunoreactivity was more widespread than that observed after light, extending throughout the SCN and adjacent hypothalamus. To test whether NMDA receptors had a physiological role in the photic response, hamsters were treated systemically with the non-competitive NMDA antagonist MK801 (dose range 0.6 to 6.0 mg/kg body wt, ip) or vehicle prior to exposure to a 1 h light pulse given at CT 14 or CT 20. Expression of c-fos was still detectable in the dorsolateral SCN but MK801 blocked expression in the ventral portion of the retinoreceptive zone of the SCN. MK801 (10 or 100 nmol) delivered centrally (icv) also prevented light-induced c-fos expression in the ventral region of the SCN bordering the optic chiasm, though staining again persisted in the dorsolateral region. The induction of c-fos by icv NMDA, and the partial blockade of light-induced c-fos expression by the antagonist MK801, are consistent with the hypothesis that glutamate mediates the effects of light on SCN activity. However, the persistent photic induction of c-fos expression in a subfield of retinal afferents following treatment with MK801 suggests that other, non-NMDA-type mechanisms may contribute to photic entrainment.     

胚鼠大脑皮质神经元原代培养中NMDA诱导c－fosmRNA表达

为了进一步研究对神经元的早期保护，本实验观察了Ｎ－甲基－Ｄ－天门冬氨酸（ＮＭＤＡ）在胚鼠大脑皮层神经元原代培养诱导ｃ－ｆｏｓ基因表达特点。结果显示：ＮＭＤＡ可诱导快速、短暂的ｃ－ｆｏｓ基因表达，并呈剂量、时间依赖关系；ｃ－ｆｏｓｍＲＮＡ表达可被ＮＭＤＡ竞争性或非竞争性受体拮抗剂Ａｐ－５（５０μｍｏｌ／Ｌ）ＭＫ－８０１（１０μｍｏｌ／Ｌ）完全阻断，Ｍｇ２＋（２ｍｍｏｌ／Ｌ）可部分阻滞，异搏定、尼凡地平与安定则无阻断作用。     

Eat less, live longer? New insights into the role of caloric restriction in the brain

Caloric restriction has wide-ranging health benefits and may offer protection against age-related neuronal loss and neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease, possibly via enhanced adult neurogenesis. While a variety of interventions such as exercise increase neurogenesis, recent work suggests that exercise and caloric restriction may work to enhance neurogenesis by different neurobiological mechanisms, suggesting a role for both diet and exercise in disease prevention.     

硫化氢复合浅低温可选择性激活突触内NMDARs及其下游PI3K/Akt信号通路

目的观察硫化氢（H₂S）复合浅低温对大鼠全脑缺血-再灌注后海马N-甲基-D-天冬氨酸受体（NMDARs）的亚单位NR2A、NR2B、磷酸化蛋白激酶B（p-Akt）及磷酸化糖原合成酶激酶3β（p-GSK 3β）的影响,旨在探讨其发挥脑复苏作用的潜在机制。方法雄性SD大鼠100只,随机均分为五组:假手术组（Ⅰ组）、模型组（Ⅱ组）、浅低温组（Ⅲ组）、硫氢化钠（NaHS）组（Ⅳ组）、浅低温+NaHS组（Ⅴ组）。采用Pulsinelli-Brierley四血管阻塞法建立大鼠全脑缺血再灌注损伤模型,缺血15 min再灌注即刻Ⅳ组和Ⅴ组腹腔注射14μmol/kg NaHS,Ⅲ组和Ⅴ组行体表降温至肛温32～33℃。6 h后断头取海马,分别采用分光光度计法测H₂S的含量,western blot法测NR2A、NR2B、p-Akt及p-GSK 3β的表达,每组分别取4只于再灌注24 h取脑行Tunel染色观察CA1区锥体细胞凋亡情况。结果与Ⅰ组相比,Ⅱ、Ⅲ、Ⅳ、Ⅴ组海马组织H₂S含量均升高（P<0.05）;与Ⅱ组相比,Ⅳ和Ⅴ组H₂S含量显著升高（P<0.05）;与Ⅰ组相比,Ⅱ、Ⅲ、Ⅳ、Ⅴ组NR2A、NR2B的表达、凋亡指数（AI）均增高（P<0.05）,且Ⅱ和Ⅲ组NR2A/NR2B<1,Ⅰ、Ⅳ和Ⅴ组NR2A/NR2B>1;与Ⅰ组相比,Ⅱ、Ⅲ、Ⅳ、Ⅴ组海马p-Akt及p-GSK 3β的表达均上调（P<0.05）;与Ⅱ组相比,Ⅲ、Ⅳ、Ⅴ组海马p-Akt及p-GSK 3β的表达均上调,AI降低（P<0.05）;与Ⅲ和Ⅳ组相比,Ⅴ组海马p-GSK 3β的表达上调（P<0.05）。与Ⅱ组相比,Ⅲ、Ⅳ、Ⅴ组CA1区锥体细胞凋亡程度均明显减轻,尤以Ⅴ组效果最明显。结论 H₂S复合浅低温可能通过选择性作用于突触内的NMDARs,进而激活其下游促存活磷脂酰肌醇-3-激酶/蛋白激酶B（PI3K/Akt）信号通路,抑制锥体细胞凋亡,从而发挥脑复苏的作用。     

N-甲基-D-天冬氨酸受体和突触后致密物质95在血管性痴呆大鼠中作用机制的研究

目的观察血管性痴呆(VaD)大鼠N-甲基-D-天冬氨酸-2B亚基受体(NR2B)和突触后致密物质95(PSD-95)在VaD发生、发展中的作用。方法采用永久性结扎双侧颈总动脉方法将96只Wistar大鼠随机分为假手术组(32只)、VaD模型组(模型组,32只)和美金刚治疗组(治疗组,32只)。用免疫组织化学法检测术后4、8、12、16周大鼠海马NR2B和PSD-95的表达,并同时采用Morris水迷宫测试大鼠的学习记忆水平。结果随着缺血时间的延长,与假手术组比较,模型组大鼠术后4、8、12、16周学习记忆能力下降,差异显著(P<0.01);术后4周时NR2B和PSD-95的表达明显高于假手术组(P<0.01),此后逐渐减少,显著低于假手术组(P<0.01),术后16周时表达最少。治疗组大鼠术后4周时学习记忆水平及NR2B、PSD-95的表达与假手术组比较无显著差异,术后8、12、16周时,上述指标较模型组显著好转但仍差于假手术组(P<0.05,P<0.01)。结论大鼠海马NR2B和PSD-95作为复合体参与VaD的形成和发展,适量的美金刚通过调节NR2B的表达进而改善VaD大鼠的认知功能。