This review article addresses the biological factors that influence: (i) the acquisition of alcohol intake; (ii) the maintenance of chronic alcohol intake; and (iii) alcohol relapse-like drinking behavior in animals bred for their high-ethanol intake. Data from several rat strains/lines strongly suggest that catalase-mediated brain oxidation of ethanol into acetaldehyde is an absolute requireme...

Acute relationships between cerebrospinal fluid hydrostatic pressure and arterial pressure were quantified in conscious rats. The rats were catheterized with a left femoral artery catheter, and a double set of catheters was implanted into the third cerebral ventricle. In three groups of rats, artificial cerebrospinal fluid with various sodium concentrations (142, 152, and 162 mM) was infused in...

Recent evidence suggests that insulin may influence many brain functions. It is known that intracerebroventricular (icv) injection of nondiabetogenic doses of streptozotocin (STZ) can damage insulin receptor signal transduction. In the present study, we examined the functional damage to the brain insulin receptors on central mechanisms regulating glomerular filtration rate and urinary sodium ex...

Krabbe disease (KD) is a progressive and devasting neurological disorder that leads to the toxic accumulation of psychosine in white matter central nervous system (CNS). The condition inherited via biallelic, loss-of-function mutations galactosylceramidase (GALC) gene. To rescue GALC gene function CNS twitcher mouse model KD, an adeno-associated virus serotype 1 vector expressing murine under c...

Success in neural tissue transplants at central nervous system suggest that the site may be immunologically privileged. However, this experimental study in which an antigen (Sheep Red Blood Cells) was administered into the third ventricle does not support the above concept. The antibody titre and soluble immune complex levels seen in these animals are similar to the levels seen in animals immun...

The serine protease tissue-type plasminogen activator (tPA) is used as a thrombolytic agent in the management of ischemic stroke, but concerns for hemorrhagic conversion greatly limits the number of patients that receive this treatment. It has been suggested that the bleeding complications associated with thrombolytic tPA may be due to unanticipated roles of tPA in the brain. Recent work has su...

In Parkinson's disease (PD) depletion of dopamine in the nigro-striatal pathway is a main pathological hallmark that requires continuous and focal restoration. Current predominant treatment with intermittent oral administration of its precursor, Levodopa (l-dopa), remains the gold standard but pharmacological drawbacks trigger motor fluctuations and dyskinesia. Continuous intracerebroventricula...

The teleost fish Danio rerio (zebrafish) has a remarkable ability to generate newborn neurons in its brain at adult stages of its lifespan-a process called adult neurogenesis. This ability relies on proliferating ventricular progenitors and is in striking contrast to mammalian brains that have rather restricted capacity for adult neurogenesis. Therefore, investigating the zebrafish brain can he...