Thioredoxin is a small, multifunctional protein with a redox-active disulfide/dithiol in the active site. Thioredoxin plays several important biologic roles both in intracellular and extracellular compartments with its redox-regulating and reactive oxygen intermediates scavenging activities. We assayed the seizure response and the excitotoxic hippocampal injury in thioredoxin transgenic and wil...

The aim of the present experiment was to find out whether lesions in the prefrontal system, produced with kainic acid (KA) would disrupt the pattern of activation of the prefrontal system, determined by the deoxyglucose technique. The activation was induced by injections of penicillin into the prefrontal cortex. There was no difference between the pattern previously described in rats with intac...

Kainic acid, rigidified (S)-glutamic acid, is a well-known kainite receptor agonist for the excitatory transmission in the central nerve system. Our interest in highly selective kainite ligands, prompted us to design a series of new kainic homologues, "homokainoids", i.e., conformationally rigidified (S)-glutamic acids. For the syntheses of enantiopure novel homokainoids (pipecolinoglutamic aci...

Glutamate release after ischemia, hypoxia and seizure activity plays an important role in stimulating adenosine production and release. We characterized the ionotropic glutamate receptor subtype that regulates adenosine levels in vivo and investigated the role of nitric oxide and free radicals in mediating N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA)-induced increases in adenosine levels. Rats received unilater...

Several structurally related metabolites of progesterone (3 alpha-hydroxy pregnane-20-ones) and deoxycorticosterone (3 alpha-hydroxy pregnane-21-diol-20-ones) and their 3 beta-epimers were evaluated for protective activity against pilocarpine-, kainic acid- and N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA)-induced seizures in mice. Steroids with the 3-hydroxy group in the alpha-position and 5-H in the alpha- or ...

Light microscopic immunocytochemical techniques were used to evaluate the influence of recurrent limbic seizure activity on the immunoreactivity for 3 neuropeptides--enkephalin, dynorphin, and cholecystokinin (CCK)--contained within the mouse hippocampal mossy fiber axonal system. Seizures were induced either by the placement of a small unilateral electrolytic lesion in the dentate gyrus hilus ...