The effect of beta-adrenergic receptor blockade on retention in a mildly aversive passive-avoidance procedure was investigated. Rats were given passive-avoidance training--1 trial per day for 4 days-and were administered saline, the centrally and peripherally acting beta-adrenergic blocker propranolol (4 or 10 mg/kg ip), or the peripherally acting beta-adrenergic blocker sotalol (4 or 10 mg/kg ...

BACKGROUND Pituitary adenylate cyclase activating peptides (PACAPs) are potent endothelium independent dilators of human coronary arteries; however, their effects on human pulmonary arteries are unknown. METHODS The vasorelaxant effects of PACAP27 on human pulmonary segmental arteries were studied and the specific potassium (K+) channel regulatory mechanisms in the vasorelaxant effects were t...

Aim: To investigate the effect of connexin 36-associated (Cx36) channel blockers on the process of epilepsy and its mechanisms. Methods: We examined the anticonvulsant properties of carbenoxolone, quinine, and quinidine in the Kainic Acid-induced (KA-induced) model of epilepsy in rats, and we investigated the effects of these blockers on epileptic discharge and the expression of Cx36. Results: ...

Membrane proteins have been isolated from neuromuscular synapses of the crab Potamon transcaspicum using a specific blocker of glutamatergic synapses, the neurotoxin of the spider Argiope lobata. These membrane components have been shown to induce glutamate-sensitive conductance in bilayer lipid membranes (BLM) in the presence of sodium ions. As an agent blocking desensitization of glutamatergi...