BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE In the present study, the effect of acute lead exposure in the presence and absence of dopamine or alpha (alpha)-adrenoceptor agents on contractile response of rat isolated thoracic aorta was studied. METHODS Male Wistar rats were used in all experiments. Thoracic aorta was carefully removed, cleaned, and cut into 2-mm thick rings. The rings were mounted for measurement o...

OBJECTIVE Animal data suggest that the strong euphoriant effects of cocaine are related to the drug's enhancement of available dopamine at the synaptic cleft. The authors' goal was to determine whether this mechanism is the same in humans because the development of putative pharmacological agents for treatment of cocaine dependence depends on this knowledge. METHOD Positron emission tomograph...

During the history of antipsychotic medications, the dopamine D2 receptor has been the crucial main target of drug action. Typical antipsychotics, which dominated the first 25 years of antipsychotic treatment as well as atypical antipsychotics, medications of the last three decades, all retained dopamine D2 receptor antagonism as the basic mode of action. Whether the superior side-effect profil...

PURPOSE Because neurotransmitter dopamine inhibits vascular permeability factor/vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-induced angiogenesis and as anti-VEGF agents act synergistically with anticancer drugs, we therefore investigated whether dopamine can increase the efficacies of these drugs. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN The effect of dopamine was investigated in human breast cancer-(MCF-7) and col...

Introduction: Dopamine plays an important role in the central nervous system for modulating food intake. Dopamine receptors are distributed within the hypothalamus, and expression of D1 receptors is significant in hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVN). Therefore, the aim of this study was to find if PVN-microinjected SKF38393, D1 receptor agonist, may modulate food intake. Methods: Gui...

The dopamine hypothesis of schizophrenia is based on evidence that the major antipsychotic drugs act by blocking dopamine D2 receptors and that dopamine-releasing drugs worsen symptoms. In this issue of Neuron, Kellendonk et al. report an elegant conditional transgenic mouse overexpressing dopamine D2 receptors selectively in the striatum. Strikingly, these animals display selective cognitive i...

Several lines of studies on schizophrenia have suggested abnormalities in dopaminergic neurotransmission and dopamine receptor densities. The aim of this study was to evaluate putative alterations of the dopamine D2/3 receptor density in extrastriatal brain regions among drug‐naïve schizophrenic patients compared to healthy subjects, to compare drug‐ induced extrastriatal dopamine D2/3 receptor...

introduction: dopamine plays an important role in the central nervous system for modulating food intake. dopamine receptors are distributed within the hypothalamus, and expression of d1 receptors is significant in hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (pvn). therefore, the aim of this study was to find if pvn-microinjected skf38393, d1 receptor agonist, may modulate food intake. methods: guide c...

background: therapeutic effects of lithium in manic-depressive disorders have been clarified. during the present study, the effects of lithium carbonate have been assessed on apomorphine-induced sniffing in rats. materials and methods: male albino rats were housed in a glass cylinder and food and water were freely available till 60 minutes before the experiment. immediately after apomorphine in...