Motherhood involves a switch in natural rewards, whereby offspring become highly rewarding. Nucleus accumbens (NAC) is a key CNS region for natural rewards and addictions, but to date no study has evaluated on a large scale the events in NAC that underlie the maternal change in natural rewards. In this study we utilized microarray and bioinformatics approaches to evaluate postpartum NAC gene ex...

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effects of acute and repeated treatment with two antidepressant drugs (ADs) of opposite pharmacological profile, i.e. tianpetine (TIA, serotonin reuptake enhancer) and fluoxetine (FLU, serotonin reuptake inhibitor) on the levels of Met-Enkephalin, (Met-Enk, a member ofopioid peptide family, which has been suggested to play a role in the mecha...

This review discusses the accumulated evidence that pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) gene products as well other pituitary neuropeptides derived from related genes (Proenkephalin, PENK; Prodynorphin, PDYN, and Pronociceptin, PNOC) can exert direct effects on B lymphocytes to modulate their functions. We also available data receptor systems might be involved in transmission of such hormonal signals c...

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) identified effective in many diseases. One of which is neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer disease (AD). In this study gross alteration of gene expression in AD mice by ibuprofen treatment is investigated via Protein-protein interaction network (PPI) analysis. Expression profiling of microarray dataset GSE67306 was retrieved from GEO dat...

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) identified effective in many diseases. One of which is neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer disease (AD). In this study gross alteration of gene expression in AD mice by ibuprofen treatment is investigated via Protein-protein interaction network (PPI) analysis. Expression profiling of microarray dataset GSE67306 was retrieved from GEO dat...

Author details Programa de Pós Graduação em Etnobiologia e Conservação da Natureza, Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, Rua Dom Manoel de Medeiros, s/n, Dois Irmãos, 52171-900 Recife, PE, Brazil. Departamento de Tecnologia e Ciências Sociais, Universidade do Estado da Bahia, Avenida Edgard Chastinet, s/n, São Geraldo, 48905-680 Juazeiro, BA, Brazil. De...

Zymosanor thioglycollate-induced experimental peritoneal inflammation in mice may serve as a convenient model for investigations of involvement of opioid peptides derived from exudatory leukocytes in the inflammatory processes. During peritonitis, the influx of neutrophils and monocytes/macrophages correlated with a sequential appearance of proinflammatory cytokines (IL-1 and TNF ). After both ...

Addiction is associated with neuroadaptive changes in the brain. In the present paper, we used a model of methamphetamine self-administration during which we used footshocks to divide rats into animals that continue to press a lever to get methamphetamine (shock-resistant) and those that significantly reduce pressing the lever (shock-sensitive) despite the shocks. We trained male Sprague-Dawley...

The anteroventral periventricular nucleus (AVPV) is a nodal point in neural circuits regulating secretion of gonadotropin and contains sexually dimorphic populations of hormonally regulated dopamine-, dynorphin-, and enkephalin-containing neurons. Because the tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), prodynorphin (PDYN), and proenkephalin (PENK) genes contain cAMP response elements that control their expressi...