BACKGROUND Neurosteroid dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS) has been associated with important brain functions, including neuronal survival, memory, and behavior, showing therapeutic potential in various neuropsychiatric and cognitive disorders. However, the antagonistic effects of DHEAS on γ-amino-butyric acidA receptors and its facilitatory action on glutamatergic neurotransmission might l...

AIM This study aims to identify the dominant viral animal pathologies and to list the traditional recipes used by the breeders for their treatment. MATERIALS AND METHODS The method of data collection was based on a retrospective survey. Thus, 787 breeders and agro-breeders scattered in the eight agro-ecological areas of Benin were interviewed using semi-structured questionnaires. RESULTS In...

BACKGROUND The activity of canine expiratory (E) neurons in the caudal ventral respiratory group is primarily dependent on N-methyl-D-aspartic acid (NMDA) receptor-mediated excitatory chemodrive inputs and modulated by an inhibitory mechanism mediated via gamma-aminobutyric acidA (GABA(A)) receptors. In an intact canine preparation, halothane depressed the activity of these neurons mainly by re...

Estrogen (E2) acts in the brain to decrease blood pressure (BP) responses to psychological stress. A likely site for the effects of E2 is the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVN), an important regulator of autonomic functions. We studied the effects of E2 in the PVN on BP and heart rate (HR) responses to L-glutamate injections into the PVN of male urethane-anesthetized rats. Microinjectio...

A number of steroids seem to have anesthetic effects resulting primarily from their ability to potentiate currents gated by gamma-aminobutyric acidA (GABAA) receptor activation. One such compound is (3alpha,5alpha, 17beta)-3-hydroxyandrostane-17-carbonitrile [(+)-ACN]. We were interested in whether carbonitrile substitution at other ring positions might result in other pharmacological consequen...

Neuroactive steroids are naturally occurring or synthetically derived compounds many of which have anticonvulsant, anesthetic, anxiolytic, analgesic or hypnotic properties. The major site of neuronal activity appears to be with a specific steroid-sensitive site on the gamma-aminobutyric acidA receptor/chloride ionophore complex. Ganaxolone (3 alpha-hydroxy-3 beta-methyl-5 alpha-pregnan-20-one) ...

Wild-type a1b2g2 g-aminobutyric acid (GABA)A receptors and receptors containing a point-mutated subunit g2F77Y were expressed by transient transfection in human embryonic kidney 293 cells. Mutant receptors bound the benzodiazepine binding site ligand [H]flumazenil with similar, subnanomolar affinity as wild-type receptor. Displacement studies with diazepam showed that the affinity for this comp...

We examined the effect of prenatal ethanol exposure on g-aminobutyric acid (GABA)-stimulated Cl flux. Sprague-Dawley rat dams were fed either a liquid diet containing 5% ethanol, pair-fed an isocalorically equivalent 0% ethanol diet or rat chow ad libitum throughout gestation. Membrane vesicles were prepared from medial frontal cortex, cerebellum and hippocampal formation of adult offspring in ...

Benzodiazepines (BZs) exert their therapeutic effects in the mammalian central nervous system at least in part by modulating the activation of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)-activated chloride channels. To gain further insight into the mechanism of action of BZs on GABA receptors, we have been investigating structural determinants required for the actions of the BZ diazepam (dzp) on recombinant...