Donor heart allografts are extremely susceptible to prolonged static cold storage. Because donor treatment with low-dose dopamine improves clinical outcome after heart transplantation, we tested the hypothesis that dopamine and its lipophilic derivate, N-octanoyl dopamine (NOD), protect cardiomyocytes from cold storage injury. Neonatal rat cardiomyocytes were treated with dopamine or NOD or lef...

Domperidone is a specific dopamine antagonist that does not exert central anti dopaminergic activity in vivo, probably because it does not readily cross the blood brain barrier (Costall et al., 1979; Laduron and Leysen, 1979). In this study, domperidone has been compared with haloperidol in three different experimental situations where dopamine and/ or apomorphine are known to act: in vivo dopa...

The main purpose of the present investigation is the study of therapeutically effect of Zotepine in schizophrenia disease treatment. In first step, the molecular structure of the said compound is optimized using density functional theory (DFT) technique by B3LYP functional method at 6-311++G(d,p) level of theory. Then the electronic properties of the title molecule are calculated using frontier...

Differences in the time to maximal effect (T(max)) of a series of dopamine receptor antagonists on the self-administration of cocaine are not consistent with their lipophilicity (octanol-water partition coefficients at pH 7.4) and expected rapid entry into the brain after intravenous injection. It was hypothesized that the T(max) reflects the time required for maximal occupancy of receptors, wh...

Antipsychotic treatment can produce supersensitivity to dopamine receptor stimulation. This compromises the efficacy of ongoing treatment and increases the risk of relapse to psychosis upon treatment cessation. Serotonin 5-HT2 receptors modulate dopamine function and thereby influence dopamine-dependent responses. Here we evaluated the hypothesis that 5-HT2 receptors modulate the behavioural ex...

PURPOSE To examine the effects of acetylcholine (ACh) on glutamate-induced neurotoxicity in embryonic rat retinal neurons. METHODS Primary cultures were obtained from rat retinas at embryonic days 17 to 19. Cultured cells were exposed to glutamate for 10 minutes, followed by incubation in glutamate-free medium for 1 hour. Drugs were added to the incubation medium for 1 to 24 hours until immed...

Estimates of dopamine D(2/3) receptor occupancy by endogenous dopamine using positron emission tomography (PET) in animals have varied almost threefold. This variability may have been caused by incomplete depletion of dopamine or by the use of antagonist radioligands, which appear less sensitive than agonist radioligands to changes in endogenous dopamine. PET scans were performed in rats with t...

Estimates of dopamine D2/3 receptor occupancy by endogenous dopamine using positron emission tomography (PET) in animals have varied almost threefold. This variability may have been caused by incomplete depletion of dopamine or by the use of antagonist radioligands, which appear less sensitive than agonist radioligands to changes in endogenous dopamine. PET scans were performed in rats with the...