The immediate premotor signals for saccades are created at the level of medium-lead burst neurons (MLBNs). During fixations, MLBNs receive tonic inhibition from omnipause neurons (OPNs), which use glycine as a neurotransmitter. To elucidate the role of this inhibition, we studied discharge patterns of horizontal MLBNs following iontophoretic application of strychnine, a glycine-receptor antagon...

Damage to conifer seedlings by pocket gophers (Thomomys spp.) is a major factor limiting reforestation in the western United States. To control gopher populations and reduce damage, the U.S. Forest Service annually treats thousands of hectares with strychnine alkaloid bait. Because an underground application of strychnine bait could pose a threat to other species, we monitored small mammal popu...

Rodenticide options for pocket gopher control are more limited now than anytime in the last 40 years. Strychnine remains the most economical and efficacious of the rodenticides available for use in production agriculture and forestry. The anticoagulant rodenticides, diphacinone and chlorophacinone, provide the best alternative to strychnine where the latter is thought inappropriate (e.g., schoo...

1. Nicotine, 20 mug/ml, briefly and partially blocked the longitudinal contractions of a chick vagus nerve-oesophagus preparation to nerve stimulation, but potentiated them in the presence of hyoscine, 10 mug/ml.2. Strychnine, 20 mug/ml, antagonized the longitudinal contractions of the chick oesophagus to nerve stimulation, though not to acetylcholine or 5-hydroxytryptamine. Hyoscine, 10 mug/ml...

Strychnine is one of the most potent antagonists of glycine-mediated inhibitory conductances in the mammalian spinal cord. In order to examine the distribution of glycine receptors (GlyRs) on neuronal cells, 2 novel fluorescent strychnine derivatives were synthesized and characterized chemically, spectroscopically, and biologically. Both compounds retain their biological activity after derivati...

The aim of the study was to investigate the possibility of improving the therapeutic efficacy of the total alkaloid fraction (TAF) extracted from processed nux vomica by reducing the strychnine contents. Most strychnine was removed from TAF to obtain the modified total alkaloid fraction (MTAF). The toxicity and pharmacokinetics of TAF and MTAF were further investigated and compared besides thei...

The effects of the antihelmintic, ivermectin, were investigated in recombinantly expressed human alpha(1) homomeric and alpha(1)beta heteromeric glycine receptors (GlyRs). At low (0.03 microm) concentrations ivermectin potentiated the response to sub-saturating glycine concentrations, and at higher (> or =0.03 microm) concentrations it irreversibly activated both alpha(1) homomeric and alpha(1)...

The purpose of this study was to examine the role of glycine in sensory processes in the spinal trigeminal nucleus oralis (Sp5O). We evaluated the effect of intravenous administration of strychnine, a glycine receptor antagonist, on the responses of Sp5O convergent neurons evoked by innocuous peripheral electrical and mechanical stimuli in halothane-anesthetized rats. Strychnine significantly i...

Strychnos wallichiana (Loganiaceae) is a critically endangered medicinal plant, commonly used in several native medical practices. The majority of members of the Strychnos genus shares a similar chemical composition and contains common indole alkaloids. Purification of strychnine and brucine from a few species of Strychnos have already been reported; however, we have purified and quantified the...

Known for the complexity of its structure, strychnine remains to be one challenging targets total synthesis. Generations chemists have contributed synthesis since Woodward’s groundbreaking Today, new strategies and tactics are still emerging optimization route In this review, I discuss documents about in past five years with aim demonstrating trend strategy