Neuroscience
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The ability of local infusions of the alpha 7 nicotinic acetycholine receptor (α7 nAChR) partial agonist SSR180711 to evoke glutamate release in prefrontal cortex was determined in awake rats using a microelectrode array. Infusions of SSR180711 produced dose-dependent increases in glutamate levels. The lower dose (1.0μg in 0.4μL) evoked a rapid rise (∼1.0s) in glutamate (1.41±0.30μM above baseline). ⋯ Ceftriaxone reduced the magnitude of the SSR180711-evoked increase by 65%. These results demonstrate that pharmacological stimulation of α7 nAChRs within the prefrontal cortex is sufficient to evoke rapid yet transient increases in glutamate levels. Such increases may underlie the cognition-enhancing effects of the drug in animals; further justifying studies on the use of α7 nAChR-positive modulators in treating cognition-impairing disorders in humans.
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In rodents, olfactory bulbectomy (OBX) results in several behavioral and biochemical changes, useful as a screening model for antidepressants. Recent evidences suggest that quercetin; a bioflavonoid exhibits a variety of behavioral effects including anxiolytic, antidepressant, etc. Since microglia are commonly implicated in the neuroinflammation cascade of depression, we hypothesized that quercetin might involve microglial inhibition pathway in its antidepressant-like effects. ⋯ After a surgical recovery period of 2weeks, treatment with quercetin (40, 80mg/kg; per oral (p.o.) p.o., 14days) significantly prevented OBX-induced behavioral, biochemical, molecular and histopathological alterations. Further, combination of sub effective doses of quercetin (20, 40mg/kg; p.o.) with minocycline (25mg/kg; p.o.) significantly potentiated their protective effects as compared to their effects alone. Based on our results, we propose that microglial inhibitory pathway might be involved in the neuroprotective effects of quercetin and suppression of oxidative-nitrosative stress mediated neuroinflammation-apoptotic cascade associated with OBX rat model of depression.
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The dopamine (DA), noradrenalin (NA) and serotonin (5-HT) monoaminergic systems are deeply involved in cognitive processes via their influence on cortical and subcortical regions. The widespread distribution of these monoaminergic networks is one of the main difficulties in analyzing their functions and interactions. To address this complexity, we assessed whether inter-individual differences in monoamine tissue contents of various brain areas could provide information about their functional relationships. ⋯ Most correlations found between cortical areas were positive while some cortico-subcortical relationships regarding the DA, NA and 5-HT tissue contents were negative, in particular for DA content. In conclusion, this work provides a useful database of the monoamine tissue content in numerous brain regions. It suggests that the regulation of these neuromodulatory systems is achieved mainly at the terminals, and that each of these systems contributes to the regulation of the other two.