objective(s) psychotropic medications produce their effects, in part, through increasing neurotrophin levels in the brain. since studies concerning nerve growth factor (ngf) analysis have been limited in scope, in the current experiments we investigated the effects of diverse psychotropic agents on ngf protein levels in various brain regions of rat. materials and methods male wistar rats receiv...

OBJECTIVE To study cardiovascular alterations in young patients with no apparent organic disease who underwent electroconvulsive therapy. METHODS The study comprised 47 healthy patients (22 males and 25 females) with a mean age of 30.3 years, who underwent electroconvulsive therapy. Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring and continuous electrocardiographic monitoring (Holter monitor) were perfo...

To evaluate the impact of electroconvulsive therapy on arterial blood pressure, heart rate, heart rate variability, and the occurrence of ischemia or arrhythmias, 38 (18 men) depressive patients free from systemic diseases, 50 to 83 years old (mean: 64.7 +/- 8.6) underwent electroconvulsive therapy. All patients were studied with simultaneous 24-h ambulatory blood pressure and Holter monitoring...

After a series of seven electroconvulsive shocks, mice (C57BL/6J) showed a marked change in their response to opiates. Although very large doses of mu agonists induce convulsions in normal control mice, our evidence indicated that this was accomplished through nonopiate mechanisms: they could not be blocked by naltrexone and the pattern of drug potencies (codeine greater than morphine greater t...

Morphine, a mu-opiate agonist, and ethylketazocine, a kappa-opiate agonist, produce distinct behavioral, pharmacologic, and biochemical effects. In the mouse, large doses of morphine produce convulsions that are usually lethal and that cannot be blocked by naltrexone, whereas ethylketazocine produces nonlethal clonic convulsions that can be blocked by naltrexone. Moreover, mice made tolerant to...

KATZ, R. J. Animal model of depression: Effects of electroconvulsive shock therapy. NEUROSCI. BIOBEHAV. REV. 5(2) 273-277, 1981.wWe have previously identified a potentially accurate and specific behavioral and neuroendocrine model of depression in the rat. The most effective somatic treatment for severe depressions is electroconvulsive shock therapy (ECT). ECT was investigated in the prexlinica...