0000000000001981

AUTHOR

Ulrich Schmitt

A disintegrin-metalloproteinase prevents amyloid plaque formation and hippocampal defects in an Alzheimer disease mouse model

Alzheimer disease (AD) is characterized by excessive deposition of amyloid beta-peptides (A beta peptides) in the brain. In the nonamyloidogenic pathway, the amyloid precursor protein (APP) is cleaved by the alpha-secretase within the A beta peptide sequence. Proteinases of the ADAM family (adisintegrin and metalloproteinase) are the main candidates as physiologically relevant alpha-secretases, but early lethality of knockout animals prevented a detailed analysis in neuronal cells. To overcome this restriction, we have generated transgenic mice that overexpress either ADAM10 or a catalytically inactive ADAM10 mutant. In this report we show that a moderate neuronal overexpression of ADAM10 i…

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Rotarod impairment: catalepsy-like screening test for antipsychotic side effects.

Extrapyramidal motoric symptoms are casual side effects under antipsychotic medication. New generation antipsychotics are expected to have a reduced risk due to different receptor affinities. Here, haloperidol and the new generation antipsychotics, risperidone, amisulpride, and aripiprazole, were examined with both catalepsy test and rotarod performance test to screen for their usability in mice. Mice treated with haloperidol, risperidone, and aripiprazole showed dose and time-dependent impairment. Amisulpride-treated mice showed no signs of catalepsy. Catalepsy test and rotarod performance test were useful methods to detect side effects of both generation antipsychotics. Catalepsy test pro…

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Free-choice ethanol consumption under the influence of GABAergic drugs in rats.

Background: Neurobiological mechanisms leading from controlled alcohol consumption to addiction are poorly understood. Among multiple neurotransmitters γ-amino-butyric acid (GABA) is suggested to play a role. The present investigation studied effects of drugs interacting with the GABAergic system on the motivation of ethanol consumption. Methods: Fifty male PVG/OlaHsd rats were analyzed for free-choice ethanol drinking behavior without and with pre-exposure to drugs acting on the GABAergic system. For pretreatment, animals received the benzodiazepine agonists or antagonists diazepam, flumazenil, or Ro15-4513, or the GABA uptake inhibitor tiagabine via the drinking water for 4 weeks (day −21…

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Strain Differences in Open-Field and Elevated Plus-Maze Behavior of Rats Without and With Pretest Handling

Behavior of two rat strains was analyzed with and without 1-week pretest handling. Male rats (150-200 g body weight) of the strains PVG/OlaHsd (PVG) and Hsd:Sprague-DawleySD (SPRD) were tested once in a standard open field and an enriched open field and twice in an elevated plus-maze. Behavioral analysis revealed significant differences between the two strains and differential effects of the pretest handling procedure. SPRD rats displayed higher levels of activity and exploratory behavior than the PVG rats, whereas PVG rats were obviously less anxious. One-week pretest handling had an "anxiolytic" effect and changed activity and exploration-related behavior of the animals in both strains. A…

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Identification of P-glycoprotein substrates and inhibitors among psychoactive compounds--implications for pharmacokinetics of selected substrates.

Abstract The pharmacokinetics of antipsychotic drugs has become an integral part in understanding their pharmacodynamic activity and clinical effects. In addition to metabolism aspects, carrier-mediated transport, particularly secretion by ABC transporters, has been discussed as potentially relevant for this group of therapeutics. In this study, the psychoactive compounds perphenazine, flupentixol, domperidone, desmethyl clozapine, haloperidol, fluphenazine, fluvoxamine, olanzapine, levome-promazine, perazine, desmethyl perazine, clozapine, quetiapine and amisulpride were characterized in terms of P-glycoprotein (P-gp) affinity and transport. Experimental methods involved a radioligand disp…

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Tiagabine, a gamma-amino-butyric acid transporter inhibitor impairs spatial learning of rats in the Morris water-maze.

Abstract γ-Amino-butyric acid (GABA) is cleaved from the synaptic cleft by uptake via specific transporters. Inhibition of such transporters increases the effectiveness of physiologically released GABA. Increased GABAergic neurotransmission has an impact on learning and memory. Therefore, effects of tiagabine, a GABA-transporter inhibitor, were investigated on spatial orientation in the Morris water-maze. Rats were given four training trials per day for 4 days and a probe trial without platform on the 5th day. Compared to saline treated rats, rats treated daily with 20 mg/kg tiagabine showed impaired learning during the acquisition trials. Retrieval was impaired in rats treated only at the …

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Extract of Caragana sinica as a potential therapeutic option for increasing alpha-secretase gene expression

Abstract Background Alzheimer's disease represents one of the main neurological disorders in the aging population. Treatment options so far are only of symptomatic nature and efforts in developing disease modifying drugs by targeting amyloid beta peptide-generating enzymes remain fruitless in the majority of human studies. During the last years, an alternative approach emerged to target the physiological alpha-secretase ADAM10, which is not only able to prevent formation of toxic amyloid beta peptides but also provides a neuroprotective fragment of the amyloid precursor protein – sAPPalpha. Purpose To identify novel alpha-secretase enhancers from a library of 313 extracts of medicinal plant…

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Einfluss von THC auf die Glukoseaufnahme im Rattenhirn und das motorische Verhalten

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Individual baseline behavioral traits predict the resilience phenotype after chronic social defeat

Abstract Chronic social defeat (CSD) has been widely used as a psychosocial stress model in mice, with the magnitude of CSD-induced social avoidance as the major behavioral hallmark of the resilient and susceptible groups. Despite significant progress in the study of the neurobiology of resilient and susceptible mice, the nature and ethological relevance of CSD-induced social avoidance and social approach, particularly measured using a CD1 mouse, needs conceptual clarification. Based on the findings of a recent study revealing substantial individuality in genetically homogeneous inbred mice, we investigated whether certain baseline individual characteristics of male C57BL/6J mice predict th…

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P-Glycoprotein Influence on the Brain Uptake of a 5-HT2A Ligand: [18F]MH.MZ

<i>Background/Aims:</i> The serotonergic system, especially the 5-HT<sub>2A</sub> receptor, is involved in various diseases and conditions. We have recently developed a new [<sup>18</sup>F]-5-HT<sub>2A</sub> receptor ligand using an analogue, MDL 100907, as a basis for molecular imaging with positron emission tomography. This tracer, [<sup>18</sup>F]MH.MZ, has been shown to be an adequate tool to visualize the 5-HT<sub>2A</sub> receptors in vivo. However, [<sup>18</sup>F]altanserin, similar in chemical structure, is a substrate of efflux transporters, such as P-glycoprotein (P-gp), of the blood-brain barrier…

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Radiosynthesis of (±)-(2-((4-(2-[18F]fluoro-ethoxy)phenyl)bis(4-methoxy-phenyl)methoxy)ethylpiperidine-3-carboxylic acid: a potential GAT-3 PET ligand to study GABAergic neuro-transmissionin vivo

A dysfunction of GABAergic neurotransmission is related to diseases such as epilepsy, Huntington-disease and Parkinson-syndrome. A new 18F-fluorine labelled GABA transporter ligand for the GABA-transporter subtype GAT-3 was developed which may allow the in vivo visualisation of GABAergic neurotransmission. The precursors ethyl (2-(4-hydroxyphenyl)bis(4-methoxyphenyl)-methoxy)ethyl)-piperidine-3-carboxylate and ethyl(2-((4-(2-tosylethoxy)phenyl)-bis(4-methoxyphenyl)-methoxy) ethyl)-piperidine3-carboxylate were synthesised and labelled by the use of 2-[18F]fluoroethyltosylate or [18F]fluoride. Subsequent cleavage of the ester moiety gave the final product (±)-(2-((4-(2-[18F]fluoroethoxy)pheny…

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Reply: Valproate Treatment in Schizophrenia: Interaction of GABA with Dopamine?

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Blood-brain barrier penetration of the enantiomers of venlafaxine and its metabolites in mice lacking P-glycoprotein

According to in vitro studies the enantiomers of venlafaxine display different degrees of serotonin and noradrenaline reuptake inhibition. Therefore, clarification of the enantiomeric drug distribution between serum and brain is highly warranted. To elucidate if P-glycoprotein (P-gp) in a stereoselective manner transports venlafaxine and its metabolites out of the brain we used abcb1ab double-knockout mice that do not express P-gp. A single dose of racemic venlafaxine (10 mg/kg bw) was intraperitoneally injected to knockout (-/-) and wildtype (+/+) mice. Serum and brain samples were collected 1, 3, 6 and 9 h following drug administration for analysis by LC/MS/MS. One to six hours post-dose,…

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In vitro P-glycoprotein efflux inhibition by atypical antipsychotics is in vivo nicely reflected by pharmacodynamic but less by pharmacokinetic changes

Abstract Background P-glycoprotein (P-gp), an efflux transporter of the blood–brain barrier, limits the access of multiple xenobiotics to the central nervous system (CNS). Thus drug-dependent inhibition, induction or genetic variation of P-gp impacts drug therapy. Methods We investigated atypical antipsychotics and their interaction with P-gp. Amisulpride, clozapine, N-desmethylclozapine, olanzapine, and quetiapine were assessed in vitro on their inhibitory potential and in vivo on their disposition in mouse serum and brain, and behaviourally on the RotaRod test. In vivo wildtype (WT) and mdr1a/1b double knockout mice (mdr1a/1b (−/−, −/−); KO) were investigated. Results In rhodamine 123 eff…

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Tiermodelle für schizophrene Störungen

Auch bei Tiermodellen fur schizophrene Storungen sollten idealerweise Atiologie, Symptomatik, Verlauf und Behandelbarkeit mit der Erkrankung beim Menschen ubereinstimmen. In den meisten Fallen psychiatrischer Erkrankungen, so auch bei der Gruppe der schizophrenen Storungen, sind jedoch sowohl die Atiologie wie auch die Faktoren, die den Verlauf bestimmen, derzeit noch weitgehend unbekannt, sodass die Forderung nach dem Modell der schizophrenen Ratte oder Maus Wunschdenken bleiben muss. Wie bei jedem Tiermodell, mussen die Modelle bestimmte Validitatskriterien erfullen (► 9.2.3). Fur schizophrene Erkrankungen ist dies besonders schwierig, da die Diagnosekriterien zum grosten Teil spezifisch …

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Reconceptualising resilience within a translational framework is supported by unique and brain-region specific transcriptional signatures in mice

ABSTRACTChronic social defeat (CSD) in mice has been increasingly employed in experimental resilience research. Particularly, the degree of CSD-induced social avoidance is used to classify animals into resilient (socially non-avoidant) versus susceptible (avoidant). In-spired by human data pointing to threat-safety discrimination and responsiveness to extinction training of aversive memories as characteristics of resilient individuals, we here describe a translationally informed stratification which identified three phenotypic subgroups of mice following CSD: the Discriminating-avoiders, characterised by successful social threat-safety discrimination and successful extinction of social avoi…

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Pharmacodynamic consequences of P-glycoprotein-dependent pharmacokinetics of risperidone and haloperidol in mice

Efflux transporters, like P-glycoprotein (P-gp), may limit the access of drugs to the brain via the blood-brain barrier. The antipsychotic drug risperidone and its active metabolite 9-hydroxyrisperidone (paliperidone) are substrates of P-gp. Motor behavior of P-gp deficient mice (mdr1a/1b (-/-, -/-)) and wild type animals on a rotarod after acute doses of risperidone or haloperidol, a nonsubstrate of P-gp, were analysed aiming to show that P-gp substrate properties of an antipsychotic drug have functional consequences. Behavioral tests revealed dose-dependent effects of 0.3-3 mg/kg risperidone in wild type animals 0.5-12 h after i.p. injection of the drug. In knockout mice the 0.3 mg/kg dos…

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Preliminary assessment of the imaging capability of the YAP–(S)PET small animal scanner in neuroscience

The new and fully engineered version of the YAP–(S)PET small animal scanner has been tested at the University of Mainz for preliminary assessment of its imaging capability for studies related to neuropharmacology and psychiatry. The main feature of the scanner is the capability to combine PET and SPECT techniques. It allows the development of new and interesting protocols for the investigation of many biological phenomena, more effectively than with PET or SPECT modalities alone. The scanner is made up of four detector heads, each one composed of a 4 � 4c m 2 of YAlO3:Ce (or YAP:Ce) matrix, and has a field of view (FOV) of 4 cm axially � 4c m + transaxially. In PET mode, the volume resoluti…

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Chronic social defeat-induced social avoidance as a proxy of stress resilience in mice involves conditioned learning

Abstract Chronic social defeat (CSD)-induced social avoidance is considered to model a feature of stress-related mental dysfunction, while its absence has been used as a proxy of resilience in rodents. However, knowledge on the mechanisms shaping CSD-induced individual outcomes remains fragmentary. Fear conditioning has been described as a suitable model in humans for better understanding the pathophysiology of stress related mental disorders. We sought to explore the extent to which conditioned learning is involved in CSD-induced social avoidance. In experiment 1 (social avoidance specificity), C57BL/6 J male mice underwent CSD followed by a modified social interaction test offering the si…

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Chronic oral haloperidol and clozapine in rats: A behavioral evaluation.

The present study evaluated chronic oral treatment of rats with haloperidol or clozapine. Drugs were given in the drinking water for a 23-day period . Rat behavior was analyzed once a week in an open field. Rats ingested either 1.7 mg/kg haloperidol or 40 mg/kg clozapine daily. Blood serum analysis revealed concentrations of 6 ng/ml for haloperidol and 22 ng/ml for clozapine at the end of the treatment. Haloperidol decreased overall activity from the onset of treatment. Clozapine showed similar effects only on the last test day. Control animals showed a slight habituation in exploration-related parameters. In conclusion, these results indicate that oral drug administration through the drink…

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Pharmacodynamic effects of aripiprazole and ziprasidone with respect to p-glycoprotein substrate properties.

Introduction Aripiprazole, an atypical antipsychotic drug with mixed antagonism and agonism on dopamine D2 and serotonin receptors, is a substrate of the efflux transporter P-glycoprotein (P-gp). Here we tested the pharmacodynamic consequences of these properties in a P-gp deficient mouse model by studying the effects of aripiprazole and of ziprasidone on motor coordination. Methods The motor behaviour of wild-type (WT) and P-gp deficient [abcb1ab(-/-)] mice was investigated on a RotaRod. Mice received acute injections of either aripirazole or ziprasidone. For comparison, the dopamine receptor antagonist haloperidol and serotonin receptor ligands buspirone and ketanserin were also applied. …

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New dopamine D2 receptor polymorphisms in rats and association with apomorphine-induced stereotypies.

Adult Wistar rats injected with the dopamine receptor agonist apomorphine display different types of motility patterns with respect to oral stereotypes and locomotor activities. It was tested whether phenotypes exhibiting either ‘sniffing’ or ‘non-sniffing’ behaviour differed in gene structures of dopamine receptors D1 or D2. Forty-five Wistar rats of both genders were tested after a single dose of apomorphine (2 mg/kg s.c.) for stereotyped behaviour. Sequence analysis of the 5′ flanking region, the 5′ untranslated region and the coding region of the two genes revealed a new sequence for the 5′ flanking region of the D1 receptor gene and two polymorphisms in the promoter region of the D2 re…

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Combination of open field and elevated plus-maze: a suitable test battery to assess strain as well as treatment differences in rat behavior.

Abstract 1. 1. A test battery consisting of a standard open field, an enriched open field and an elevated plus maze was used to study behavior in rats. 2. 2. Male rats of the strains PVG/OlaHsd (PVG) and Sprague-Dawely-Hsd (SPRD) (150–200g body wt) were used to assess interstrain differences as well as handling effects. In a subsequent experiment an other set of male PVG rats (150–200g body wt) treated either with diazepam or zolpidem was used to evaluate the test battery for pharmacological purposes. 3. 3. SPRD rats displayed higher motor activity levels and also higher levels of exploratory behavior than the PVG rats. In contrast plus-maze activity indicated more anxiety of SPRD than PVG …

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Effect of a dominant-negative form of ADAM10 in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease.

The alpha-secretase cleaves in the non-amyloidogenic pathway the amyloid-beta protein precursor (AbetaPP) within the region of the amyloid-beta peptides to prevent their formation and aggregation in the brain. Members of the ADAM family (a disintegrin and metalloprotease) are the main candidates for physiologically relevant alpha-secretases. We recently demonstrated that overexpression of ADAM10 in mice transgenic for human AbetaPP (ADAM10 x APP[V717I]) alleviated functional deficits related to Alzheimer's disease. To further demonstrate that this is due to the specific activity of alpha-secretase, we characterized mice overexpressing an inactive form of ADAM10 (ADAM10[E384A]; ADAM10-dn). T…

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Amphiphilic Copolymers Shuttle Drugs Across the Blood-Brain Barrier.

Medical treatment of diseases of the central nervous system requires transport of drugs across the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Here, it is extended previously in vitro experiments with a model compound to show that the non-water-soluble and brain-impermeable drug domperidone (DOM) itself can be enriched in the brain by use of an amphiphilic copolymer as a carrier. This carrier consists of poly(N-(2-hydroxypropyl)-methacrylamide), statistically copolymerized with 10 mol% hydrophobic lauryl methacrylate, into whose micellar aggregates DOM is noncovalently absorbed. As tested in a BBB model efficient transport of DOM across, the BBB is achievable over a wide range of formulations, containing 0.…

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Compensatory mechanisms enhance hippocampal acetylcholine release in transgenic mice expressing human acetylcholinesterase

Central cholinergic neurotransmission was studied in learning-impaired transgenic mice expressing human acetylcholinesterase (hAChE-Tg). Total catalytic activity of AChE was approximately twofold higher in synaptosomes from hippocampus, striatum and cortex of hAChE-Tg mice as compared with controls (FVB/N mice). Extracellular acetylcholine (ACh) levels in the hippocampus, monitored by microdialysis in the absence or presence of 10(-8)-10(-3) M neostigmine in the perfusion fluid, were indistinguishable in freely moving control and hAChE-Tg mice. Muscarinic receptor functions were unchanged as indicated by similar effects of scopolamine on ACh release and of carbachol on inositol phosphate fo…

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Anxiolytic-like effects of acute and chronic GABA transporter inhibition in rats.

Acute GABA transporter inhibition can induce anxiolytic-like behaviors. The present analysis addressed whether chronic treatment (23 days via drinking water) with a GABA transporter inhibitor affects rat behavior similar to acute treatment and interferes with additional benzodiazepine-receptor agonistic treatment. Seventy-one rats divided into seven groups were acutely treated with either vehicle, diazepam (2 mg/kg), zolpidem (0.05 mg/kg), tiagabine (19 mg/kg) or chronically with tiagabine with or without acute diazepam or zolpidem. Animals were behaviorally characterized in an elevated plus-maze. None of the treatments induced changes in the activity of the animals. Acute and chronic treat…

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Altered brain concentrations of citalopram and escitalopram in P-glycoprotein deficient mice after acute and chronic treatment

Background: According to both in vitro and in vivo data P-glycoprotein (P-gp) may restrict the uptake of several antidepressants into the brain, thus contributing to the poor success rate of current antidepressant therapies. The therapeutic activity of citalopram resides in the Senantiomer, whereas the R-enantiomer is practically devoid of serotonin reuptake potency. To date, no in vivo data are available that address whether the enantiomers of citalopram and its metabolites are substrates of P-gp. Methods: P-gp knockout (abcb1ab (-/-)) and wild-type (abcb1ab (+/+)) mice underwent acute (single-dose) and chronic (two daily doses for 10 days) treatment with citalopram (10 mg/kg) or escitalop…

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IntelliPy: a GUI for analyzing IntelliCage data

Abstract Summary The IntelliCage systems offer the possibility to conduct long-term behavioral experiments on mice in social groups without human intervention. Although this setup provides new findings, only about 150 studies with the IntelliCage system have been published in the last two decades, which is also caused by the challenging problems of processing and handling the large and heterogeneous amounts of captured data. This application note introduces the Python-GUI IntelliPy, especially designed for users not very experienced in using programming languages. IntelliPy allows users to quickly analyze the IntelliCage output in a user-friendly way, thus making the systems more accessible…

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Ro 15-4513 Antagonizes Alcohol-Induced Sedation in Mice Through αβγ2-type GABAA Receptors

Ethyl alcohol (ethanol) has many molecular targets in the nervous system, its potency at these sites being low compared with those of sedative drugs. This has made it difficult to discover ethanol’s binding site(s). There are two putative binding sites at gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) type A receptor subtypes for the proposed ethanol antagonist Ro 15-4513, the established gamma2 subunit-dependent benzodiazepine site and the recently reported delta subunit-dependent Ro 15-4513/ethanol binding site. Here, we aimed at clarifying the in vivo role of Ro 15-4513 at these two sites. We found that the antagonism of ethanol actions by Ro 15-4513 in wildtype mice was dependent on the test: an open f…

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Acitretin, an Enhancer of Alpha-Secretase Expression, Crosses the Blood-Brain Barrier and Is Not Eliminated by P-Glycoprotein

<i>Background:</i> ADAM10 (a disintegrin and metalloproteinase 10) has been demonstrated to act as the main physiological α-secretase. Enzymatic activity of the α-secretase on the one hand prevents the formation of toxic Aβ peptides and on the other hand promotes the secretion of a neurotrophic and neuroprotective amyloid precursor protein fragment (APPs-α) by cleaving the amyloid precursor protein within its Aβ sequence. Enhancement of ADAM10’s gene expression may therefore present a valuable therapeutic approach for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), where Aβ peptides are severely involved in the pathogenesis. <i>Objective:</i> In cell culture and in a tran…

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Over-expression of two different forms of the α-secretase ADAM10 affects learning and memory in mice

Members of the ADAM family (adisintegrin and metalloprotease) are the main candidates for physiologically relevant alpha-secretases. The alpha-secretase cleaves in the non-amyloidogenic pathway the amyloid precursor protein within the region of the Abeta peptides preventing their aggregation in the brain. The increase of alpha-secretase activity in the brain provides a plausible strategy to prevent Abeta formation. Concerning this possibility two transgenic mouse lines (FVB/N) have been created: mice over-expressing the bovine form of the alpha-secretase (ADAM10) and mice over-expressing an inactive form of the alpha-secretase (ADAM10-E348A-HA; ADAM10-dn). For behavioral examination a F1 ge…

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Evaluation of P-glycoprotein (abcb1a/b) modulation of [18F]fallypride in MicroPET imaging studies

[(18)F]Fallypride ([(18)F]FP) is an important and routinely used D2/D3 antagonist for quantitative imaging of dopaminergic neurotransmission in vivo. Recently it was shown that the brain uptake of the structurally related [(11)C]raclopride is modulated by P-glycoprotein (P-gp), an important efflux transporter at the blood-brain barrier. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the brain uptake of [(18)F]FP is influenced by P-gp. For examination of this possible modulation microPET studies were performed in a rat and a mouse model. Hence, [(18)F]FP was applied to Sprague Dawley rats, half of them being treated with the P-gp inhibitor cyclosporine A (CsA). In a second experimental s…

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Chronical haloperidol and clozapine treatment in rats: Differential RNA display analysis, behavioral studies and serum level determination

1. Adult, female rats were treated orally for 23 days with 1.6 mg/kg haloperidol or 36 mg/kg clozapine per day, to study chronic effects of the two neuroleptics. 2. At five time points during the neuroleptic treatment, animal behavior was recorded in an open field and locomotive activity was analysed. At the end of the experiment, rats were decapitated, blood samples were collected and serum concentrations of haloperidol and clozapine were determined by a radioreceptor or HPLC assay, respectively. RNA was isolated from each brain, without cerebellum, and subjected to differential RNA display. 3. Mean serum concentrations were 8 ng/ml for haloperidol and 21 ng/ml for clozapine. Analysis of o…

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Behavioral Effects of GABAA Receptor Stimulation and GABA-Transporter Inhibition

Abstract The present analysis addressed behavioral changes after treatment with 4.5 mg/kg or 18.5 mg/kg of the GABA-uptake inhibitor tiagabine combined with either the benzodiazepine diazepam (1.5 mg/kg) or the imidazopyridine zolpidem (0.05 mg/kg), the latter two acting differentially on GABA A receptor subtypes. The study included 97 male PVG/OIaHsd rats. A standard open field, an enriched open field, and an elevated plus-maze was used to study rat behavior. Treatment with the low dose of tiagabine alone induced no specific behavioral effects, whereas the high dose had an anxiolytic-like potential. Furthermore, diazepam but not zolpidem displayed anxiolytic-like effects. Combination of ea…

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Macromol. Rapid Commun. 9-10/2011

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Preliminary in vivo and ex vivo evaluation of the 5-HT2A imaging probe [18F]MH.MZ

Abstract Introduction The 5-HT 2A receptor is one of the most interesting targets within the serotonergic system because it is involved in a number of important physiological processes and diseases. Methods [ 18 F]MH.MZ, a 5-HT 2A antagonistic receptor ligand, is labeled by 18 F-fluoroalkylation of the corresponding desmethyl analogue MDL 105725 with 2-[ 18 F]fluoroethyltosylate ([ 18 F]FETos). In vitro binding experiments were performed to test selectivity toward a broad spectrum of neuroreceptors by radioligand binding assays. Moreover, first micro-positron emission tomography (μPET) experiments, ex vivo organ biodistribution, blood cell and protein binding and brain metabolism studies of…

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Induction of Drug Transporters Alters Disposition of Risperidone - A Study in Mice

Pharmacokinetic interactions, e.g. modulation of drug transporters like P-glycoprotein at the blood-brain barrier, can be a reason for treatment non-response. This study focuses on the influence of induction of drug transporters on the disposition of the antipsychotic drugs risperidone and 9-hydroxyrisperidone. Brain and serum concentrations of risperidone and its active metabolite 9-hydroxyrisperidone, which are known P-glycoprotein substrates, were measured after drug transporter induction with rifampicin, dexamethasone or 5-pregnene-3beta-ol-20-on-16alpha-carbonitrile using high performance liquid chromatography. Disposition of risperidone and 9-hydroxyrisperidone was dramatically decrea…

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Diazepam has no beneficial effects on stress-induced behavioural and endocrine changes in male tree shrews.

Abstract VAN KAMPEN, M., U. SCHMITT, C. HIEMKE AND E. FUCHS. Diazepam has no beneficial effects on stress-induced behavioural and endocrine changes in male tree shrews. PHARMACOL BIOCHEM BEHAV 65 (3) 539–546, 2000.—The present study evaluated the effect of subchronic oral treatment of psychosocially stressed male tree shrews with diazepam on locomotor activity, marking behavior, avoidance behavior, and urinary cortisol and noradrenaline. To mimic a realistic situation of anxiolytic intervention, the treatment started 14 days after the beginning of psychosocial stress; at that time, the stress-induced behavioral and endocrine alterations had been established. The drug (5 mg/kg/day) was admin…

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Einfluss chronischer THC-Gaben auf die zerebrale Glukoseaufnahme in der Ratte

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Pharmacokinetics of acute and sub-chronic aripiprazole in P-glycoprotein deficient mice

Abstract Background P-glycoprotein (P-gp), an efflux transporter localized in the blood–brain barrier, limits the access of multiple xenobiotics to the central nervous system (CNS). For the new antipsychotic aripiprazole and its active metabolite dehydroaripiprazole differences in disposition in blood and brain were investigated after acute and sub-chronic administration in a P-gp knockout mouse model. Methods Serum and brain concentrations of both drugs were measured at several time points 1–24 h after i.p. injection of 10 mg/kg aripiprazole and after 11 days of sub-chronic administration in several tissues. Moreover, the expression of P-gp was determined by Western blot analysis after sub…

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HPMA Based Amphiphilic Copolymers Mediate Central Nervous Effects of Domperidone

In this study we give evidence that domperidone encapsulated into amphiphilic p(HPMA)-co-p(laurylmethacrylate) (LMA) copolymer aggregates is able to cross the blood-brain barrier, since it affected motor behaviour in animals, which is a sensitive measure for CNS actions. Carefully designed copolymers based on the clinically approved p(HPMA) were selected and synthesized by a combination of controlled radical polymerization and post-polymerization modification. The hydrodynamic radii (R(h) ) of amphiphilic p(HPMA)-co-p(LMA) alone and loaded with domperidone were determined by fluorescence correlation spectroscopy.

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Behavioral analysis indicates benzodiazepine-tolerance mediated by the benzodiazepine binding-site at the GABA(A)-receptor.

Abstract 1. GABA A -receptor induced changes in locomotion and anxiety-like behaviors were studied in rats using an open-field and an elevated plus-maze. Acute and chronic doses of the benzodiazepine diazepam without and in combination with the GABA uptake inhibitor SKF-89976A were investigated. 2. Fifty-six male rats of the strain PVG/OlaHsd (PVG; 180–200g body wt) were used to assess the influence of the benzodiazepine binding-site to the development of tolerance. Rats were divided into six groups: The first receiving saline (0.9%), the second and third diazepam (10.0 mg/kg) daily for 23 days with or without an acute challenge of 2.0 mg/kg diazepam. The fourth group received diazepam (10.…

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