Introduction: Under pathological conditions, abnormal increase in intracellular calcium concentrations is believed to induce cell death. In the present study, a voltage-sensitive calcium channel blocker (loperamide hydrochloride) was used to investigate its role in inhibition of apoptosis in sensory neurons of cultured spinal dorsal root ganglia (DRG). Methods: L5 DRG from adult rats were di...

Mebudipine is a new dihydropyridine calcium channel blocker, synthesized in our laboratory, for treatment of hypertension. It has shown a better efficacy than other drugs in this group. For assessing the risks of this drug, certain safety tests in the preclinical stage have been performed. In this study mutagenic effect of mebudipine was evaluated using Ames assay that could assess the mutageni...

In this study, involvement ofvoltage-dependent calcium channels in LTP of responses of rat visual cortex slices was analyzed. Field potentials including EPSP1 and EPSP2 from layers II/III were recorded through stimulation of layer IV. Whereas nifedipine, a L-type calcium channel blocker (L-VDCC), did not considerably affect the LTP of responses, but Ni2+, a relatively selective blocker of T-typ...

In this study, involvement ofvoltage-dependent calcium channels in LTP of responses of rat visual cortex slices was analyzed. Field potentials including EPSP1 and EPSP2 from layers II/III were recorded through stimulation of layer IV. Whereas nifedipine, a L-type calcium channel blocker (L-VDCC), did not considerably affect the LTP of responses, but Ni2+, a relatively selective blocker of T-typ...

We have studied the effects of clinically useful anthraquinones on the cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum calcium-release channel. Micromolar concentrations of doxorubicin and other anthracyclines at the cytosolic face of the channel significantly and reversibly increase the open probability of single channels in artificial phospholipid bilayers. Lifetime analysis shows that anthracyclines and calc...

This study was designed to determine whether neuroleptic drugs have calcium channel blocking activity in isolated rings of rabbit thoracic aorta. The results confirm previous findings that pimozide and penfluridol are calcium channel blockers. However, the data do not support the conclusion that these agents are selective for the voltage-sensitive calcium channel. The results also show that bot...

The objective of the study was to evaluate the antiglaucoma effect of calcium channel blockers diltiazem and verapamil. Albino rabbits were used and chronic glaucoma was induced in them using freshly prepared 150 units of alphachymotrypsin. 0.1 mL of drug solution was administered topically into the left eye whereas the right served as control. The pressure recording was carried out at 15, 30, ...

Tottering mice inherit a recessive mutation of the calcium channel alpha1A subunit that causes ataxia, polyspike discharges, and intermittent dystonic episodes. The calcium channel alpha1A subunit gene encodes the pore-forming protein of P/Q-type voltage-dependent calcium channels and is predominantly expressed in cerebellar granule and Purkinje neurons with moderate expression in hippocampus a...

Large numbers of drugs are used in the treatment of hypertension and Calcium Channel Blockers are an important group among them. Cilnidipine is a new calcium channel blocking drug distinguished from other L-type calcium channel blockers with additional N-type of calcium channel blocking property. Cardioprotective, renoprotective and neuroprotective action of cilnidipine can provide additional b...

many factors are involved in learning and memory processes including brain nuclei, neurotransmitter systems, and the activity of ion channels. studies showed inconsistent effects of calcium channel blockers on learning process, especially memory consolidation; however, little is known about their effect on memory acquisition and retrieval. accordingly, the present study aimed to determine the e...