Previous behavioral studies have indicated that the nucleus accumbens (NAc) shell of a male rat is involved in its sexual behavior; however, no previous studies have investigated neuronal activities in the male rat NAc shell during sexual behavior. To investigate this issue, we recorded single unit activities in the NAc shell of male rats during sexual behavior. Of 123 NAc shell neurons studied...

Prevention of contrast agent-induced nephropathy is of crucial importance for a number of diagnostic studies. N-Acetylcysteine (NAC) was recently reported to decrease serum creatinine levels in this setting, and its administration before radiocontrast medium administration has been widely recommended. The objective of this prospective study was to investigate whether there are effects of NAC on...

American population, but there is limited literature on creation of the male nipple-areolar complex (NAC) from the female NAC. Studies have been performed to assess the dimensions and positioning of the ideal male nipple, 1,2 but there are limited techniques to developing that ideal from a female NAC, which tend to have a larger areola, a more prominent nipple, and a different anatomic location...

Cue-elicited phasic changes in firing of nucleus accumbens (NAc) neurons can facilitate reward-seeking behavior. Here, we test the hypothesis that the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), which sends a dense glutamatergic projection to the NAc core, contributes to NAc neuronal firing responses to reward-predictive cues. Rats trained to perform an operant response to a cue for sucrose were implanted...

The nucleus accumbens (NAc) is a key component of the brain's reward pathway, yet little is known of how NAc cells respond to primary rewarding or aversive stimuli. Here, naive rats received brief intraoral infusions of sucrose and quinine paired with cues in a classical conditioning paradigm while the electrophysiological activity of individual NAc neurons was recorded. NAc neurons (102) were ...

A peptide fragment of a non-amyloid-beta component (NAC(1-13)) was studied by CD and electron microscopy. Typical amyloid fibrils were observed by EM in a solution of NAC(1-13). In addition to the beta-structural CD band in the far-UV region, a novel CD band near 285 nm was observed in a peptide solution of NAC(1-13). Taking the NAC(1-13) to contain neither an aromatic amino acid residue nor cy...

This study was designed to look at the effect of N-acetylcysteine (NAC) on epithelial secretory cells and the respiratory tract fluid volume and albumin content from the lower airways of "bronchitic" rats. Rats were exposed either to tobacco smoke (TS), TS and NAC, or NAC alone. TS caused a significant increase in epithelial secretory cell number which was not reduced by concomitant NAC adminis...

Xylella fastidiosa is a plant pathogen bacterium that causes diseases in many different crops. In citrus, it causes Citrus Variegated Chlorosis (CVC). The mechanism of pathogenicity of this bacterium is associated with its capacity to colonize and form a biofilm in the xylem vessels of host plants, and there is not yet any method to directly reduce populations of this pathogen in the field. In ...

BACKGOUND The purpose of this study was to assess the biological and clinical effects of n-acetyl-cysteine (NAC) in Parkinson's disease (PD). METHODS The overarching goal of this pilot study was to generate additional data about potentially protective properties of NAC in PD, using an in vitro and in vivo approach. In preparation for the clinical study we performed a cell tissue culture study...

Reactive and hepatotoxic metabolites formed from the biotransformation of valproic acid (VPA) are normally detoxified by conjugating with GSH and followed by mercapturic acid metabolism to produce their respective N-acetylcysteine (NAC) conjugates. Hence, the levels of NAC conjugates of VPA in human urine are an indirect measure of exposure of the liver toward reactive metabolites of the antico...