Progress in neuro-psychopharmacology最新文献

1. This article reviews some important aspects concerning the chemistry, biochemistry, and pharmacology of Tetrahydroisoquinolines.

2. Special attention is given to the hypothesis which attempts to explain the physiopathology of certain behavioral disorders observed after chronic ingestion of alcohol.

3. The possible role of Tetrahydroisoquinolines in these disorders, as well as in the etiology of schizophrenia, is discussed.

1. The alcohol field is presently in ideological crisis.

2. Traditional concepts of alcohol problems, most notably the ideas of Alcoholics Anonymous and Jellinek's disease concept, were not empirically based but nevertheless led to societal recognition of alcohol problems as serious health problems.

3. Recent governmental support for alcohol research has generated a substantial body of scientific knowledge, much of which contradicts traditional ideas.

4. Consequently, the field is undergoing a paradigm shift that will have far-reaching practical implications.

1. Changes in dopaminergic and GABAergic systems were examined in several brain regions following short-term lithium administration and subsequent withdrawal.

2. Lithium administration appears to cause a reduction in turnover of dopamine in most regions examined. In addition, there may be increased turnover of GABA in the midbrain, with decreased GABA outflow in other regions.

3. Lithium withdrawal resulted in enhanced striatal dopamine turnover, together with a further decrease in dopamine content in other brain regions. With the exception of striatum, GABAergic parameters returned towards control.

1. Changes in performance levels on a repeatable battery of neuropsychological tests were used to assess tolerance to dextroamphetamine sulfate in 6 hyperactive children over a 6 week treatment period.

2. An individual ranking system was used to compare performance under an initial dose, both with itself and with another, higher dose, at the end of the treatment period.

3. The results showed no children developed tolerance to the medicine.

4. The usefulness and applicability of the paradigm were discussed.

1. Isolated animals develop a complex symptopathology which can be characterized both behaviorally and neurochemically.

2. The main behavioral features include: compulsive aggression, impairment of learning, exploration and sexual behavior, while the main neurochemical features include a decrease of brain tryptophan content and of brain serotonin turnover and an increased brain dopamine turnover.

3. Isolated aggressive mice are differently sensitive than grouped animals and respond differently to several psychotropic drugs, tricyclic antidepressants, betablockers and benzodiazepines.

4. The results obtained will be discussed in the frame of the possibility of utilizing these animals models to study drugs active on anxiety and phobia.

1. The influence of acute and chronic administration of pentobarbital on the brain 5-hydroxytryptamine systems was investigated in mice.

2. Treatment of the animals with sodium pentobarbital, 75 mg/kg, i.p., resulted in an increase of 5-hydroxytryptamine and a decrease of 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid levels.

3. Acute pentobarbital treatment also caused the reduction of 5-hydroxytryptamine turnover without an equivalent decrease in 5-hydroxytryptamine synthesis. However, the 5-hydroxytryptamine synthesis was significantly decreased in animals which have developed tolerance to pentobarbital.

4. The pretreatment of animals with p̱-chlorophenylalanine attenuated the development of tolerance to pentobarbital without altering the response of the animal to acute administration pentobarbital.

5. On the other hand, no significant change was observed in 5-hydroxytryptamine systems in pentobarbital-withdrawal groups.

6. These results strongly suggest that functional states of brain serotonergic systems may be involved in barbiturate action.

1. Subanesthetic concentrations of nitrous oxide are used for analgesia and are occasionally abused. The effects of 30% nitrous oxide on human learning and memory, facility for solving mathematical problems and subjective feelings were investigated.

2. There were 40 normal volunteers; two drugs; 30% nitrous oxide in oxygen (N) and 100% oxygen (P, placebo); and two experimental sessions. Subjects were divided into four groups according to the drug which they inhaled in the two sessions: PP, PN, NP and NN.

3. “N” produced a marked decrease in learning; mean number of words recalled was 22.9 vs. 50.2 for “P” (P < .001).

4. On the digit span test, the percent correct under “N” was 63.0 vs. 76.8 under “P” (p< .01), indicating an impairment of short-term memory. “N” also reduced the number of mathematical problems attempted; mean number was 39.0 vs. 52.8 for “P” (p < .002) and reduced the accuracy: 75.5% for “N” vs. 94.8% for “P” (p < .001).

5. Computation of the difference scores between the number of words learned in Session I and the number recalled in Session II indicated impairment of retrieval under “N”. There was no evidence of state-dependent learning.

1. Nocturnal sleep and electro cardiographic patterns were continously investigated in 20 male patients suffering from nocturnal angina attacks. Sleep pattern was severely disturbed regardless of the presence of ischemic episodes. Sleep Time was reduced because of a large Awakening Time and an Early Final Awakening. Stages 1 and 2 were increased and stages 3, 4 and, less markedly, REM were reduced.

2. Ischemic episodes were more frequently observed between 24:00 and 04:00 without any significant relationship to the sleep stages, thus suggesting the influence of a cronobiologic factor on the distribution of ischemic attacks during the night.

3. Ischemic episodes observed during the hemodynamic monitoring did not show any significant relation to the increase of myocardial oxygen consumption. This observation, together with the lack of relation between REM sleep and ischemic episodes during the night, seem to support the hypothesis of a reversible coronary spasm in the pathogenesis of nocturnal angina.

1. The parallel forms BfS and BfS' of the Zerssen $\text{Befindlichkeits-Skala}$, a self-rating mood scale have been applied to 37 depressed French-speaking Canadian subjects along with the CGIs, the 21-item HAMD Scale, a Visual Analogue Scale, the ASQ and the SDS during an Amitriptyline/ Trazodone double-blind trial to 18 normal volunteers.

2. The results confirm the statistical parallelism of BfS and BfS' (r=.97, p>.001), the validity of both forms as a measure of ill-being vs. depression, and their sensitivity to change. An advantage of the BfS/BfS' scale is the possibility of frequent administration (parallel forms) and the possibility of rating manic swings during treatment.

3. The similarity of German, Belgian and Canadian data indicates the transcultural validity of the BfS/BfS'.

1. An electron-capture gas chromatographic procedure for the simultaneous quantitation of urinary levels of amines of psychiatric interest has been developed.

2. The amines were isolated from urine using a liquid ion exchanger, then acetylated and perfluoroacylated for analysis. This procedure improved extraction efficiency and analytical sensitivity.

3. The developed procedure was rapid, simple, specific and sensitive.

4. Urinary levels of 5-hydroxytryptamine, 3-methoxytyramine, normetanephrine, 2-phenylethylamine, tryptamine, $\text{m}$- and $\text{p}$-tyramine in control subjects were determined using this analytical procedure and agreed with literature values.