Increased Anxiety-Like Behavior and Ethanol Self-Administration in Dependent Rats: Reversal via Corticotropin-Releasing Factor-2 Receptor Activation
Background: Corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) has been hypothesized to be one of the main regulators of the stress response observed during alcohol withdrawal. The CRF receptor subtypes seem to have a differential role in the regulation of stress-related behavior. Given the behavioral characterization of these receptors, the objective of the following experiments was to characterize the role of CRF2 receptors in the interaction between alcohol and stress by examining the effects of CRF2 receptor activation in the behavioral stress response and ethanol self-administration during early ethanol withdrawal in dependent rats. Methods: Male Wistar rats were made dependent on ethanol via chroni…
Functional characterization of α1 -adrenoceptor subtypes in vascular tissues using different experimental approaches:a comparative study
The α1-adrenergic responses of rat aorta and tail artery have been analysed measuring the contractility and the inositol phosphate (IP) formation induced by noradrenaline. Three antagonists, prazosin, 5-methylurapidil (α1A selective) and BMY 7378 (α1D selective) have been used in different experimental procedures. Noradrenaline possesses a greater potency inducing contraction and IP accumulation in aorta (pEC50-contraction=7.32±0.04; pEC50-IPs=6.03±0.08) than in the tail artery (pEC50-contraction=5.71±0.07; pEC50-IPs=5.51±0.10). Although the maximum contraction was similar in both tissues (Emax-tail=619.1±55.6 mg; Emax-aorta-698.2±40.8 mg), there were marked differences in the ability of th…
Long-term effects on cortical glutamate release induced by prenatal exposure to the cannabinoid receptor agonist (r)-(+)-[2,3-dihydro-5-methyl-3-(4-morpholinyl-methyl)pyrrolo[1,2,3-de]-1,4-benzoxazin-6-yl]-1-naphthalenylmethanone: an in vivo microdialysis study in the awake rat
The aim of the present in vivo microdialysis study was to investigate whether prenatal exposure to the CB1 receptor agonist WIN55,212-2 mesylate (WIN; (R)-()-(2,3- dihydro-5-methyl-3-(4-morpholinyl-methyl)pyrrolo(1,2,3-de)- 1,4-benzoxazin-6-yl)-1-naphthalenylmethanone), at a dose of 0.5 mg/kg (s.c. from the fifth to the 20th day of gestation), that causes neither malformations nor overt signs of toxicity, influences cortical glutamate extracellular levels in adult (90- day old) rats. Dam weight gain, pregnancy length and litter size at birth were not significantly affected by prenatal treatment with WIN. Basal and K-evoked dialysate glutamate levels were lower in the cerebral cortex of adul…