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Biomedical subjects

A R Caggiula

Publications and source records attributed to A R Caggiula.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Conditioned tolerance to the anorectic and corticosterone-elevating effects of nicotine.

We have shown that tolerance to the behavioral effects of nicotine is partially dependent on conditioned environmental cues that predict drug delivery. The present research extends this finding to physiological effects of nicotine by assessing both the appetite-suppressing and adrenocortical-activating effects of nicotine, as measured by plasma corticosterone (CORT). In the first study, male rats on a 22-h food deprivation schedule were injected daily with 0.33 or 0.66 mg/kg (free base) of nicotine bitartrate or saline in a distinctive environment and tested for milk intake. Nicotine initially suppressed milk intake and tolerance developed over 10 days. Changing cues associated with drug administration partially reversed tolerance since injection of nicotine in a new environment reduced milk intake of tolerant animals. Similarly, animals who repeatedly received nicotine in one environment exhibited CORT levels lower than rats injected for the first time, and this tolerance also was partially reversed when administration occurred in the new environment. The second experiment indicated that the increased CORT of Experiment 1 was not a stress response associated with injecting animals in a different environment. These results indicate that tolerance to both behavioral and neuroendocrine effects of nicotine is influenced by conditioning.

Animals↗

Conditioned tolerance to the heart rate effects of smoking.

This study extended our findings that behavioral tolerance to nicotine in animals can be influenced by conditioning to cardiovascular tolerance in humans. Subjects smoked one-half a cigarette during each of five trials. In the ten-minute intersmoking interval the contexts that preceded smoking were varied. Smokers in the Changing group attended to a different five-minute segment of a Sherlock Holmes radio mystery before each trial, while those in the Repeated group listened to the same segment of the tape. Presmoking heart rates were stable across the groups from trials 1 to 5. As predicted, heart rate for subjects who smoked in the same context showed tolerance to smoking from trials 1 to 5 (84.5 to 78 bpm), while subjects who smoked in in the same context showed tolerance to 83.9 bpm). COa levels increased equally for both groups over the five trials. The results of this study suggest tolerance to smoking can be influenced by learning.

Adult↗

Does the gender relevance of the stressor influence sex differences in psychophysiological responses?

Sex differences in psychophysiological responses to stress may be important to understanding sex differences in risk for coronary heart disease. This investigation tested the hypothesis that the gender relevance of the stressor influences the extent of sex differences in cardiovascular, neuroendocrine, and lipid responses during stress. Participants performed two tasks that were described as masculine oriented, feminine oriented, or not gender relevant. Although these descriptions influenced the participants' perceptions of the tasks, they did not influence the extent of sex differences in physiological responses in a manner consistent with the study hypothesis. Future directions for research are discussed regarding sex differences in psychophysiological responses.

Achievement↗

Correlation between locomotor stimulation and the electrophysiological effects of low doses of morphine on substantia nigra dopamine neurons. I. Acute drug administration.

Parallel experiments were done to determine whether the behavioral effects of low doses of morphine correlated with changes in the electrophysiological activity of two subpopulations of mesencephalic dopamine neurons in rats. Acute administration of morphine sulfate (0.01 or 0.20 mg/kg i.v.) produced a naloxone antagonizable increase in locomotion and a corresponding increase in the discharge rates of Type A dopamine neurons. Morphine sulfate led to a relatively long-latency (120-200 sec) loss of spontaneous discharge activity in the majority of Type B dopamine neurons and this was blocked by a high dose of naloxone (5.0 mg/kg). Naloxone (0.10 or 5.0 mg/kg i.v.), combined with morphine, led to a paradoxical behavioral suppression. These data suggest that morphine produces opposite effects on two functionally distinct subtypes of neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta and that behavioral output may reflect an interaction between these changes in discharge activity in mesencephalic dopamine pathways.

Animals↗

T-lymphocyte reactivity during the menstrual cycle in women.

Reactivity of blood lymphocytes to nonspecific mitogenic stimulation with phytohemagglutinin (PHA) was measured in nine healthy, regularly cycling women at three phases of their menstrual cycles corresponding to peak levels of estradiol (midfollicular phase), peak levels of progesterone (midluteal phase), and the lowest levels of both hormones (menstrual phase). Sampling points were verified by radioimmunoassay of estrogen, progesterone, luteinizing hormone, and follicle-stimulating hormone. There were significant increases in reactivity associated with an increasing concentration of PHA and with autologous plasma vs AB plasma. However, no differences were found in reactivity to PHA over the three menstrual cycle phases and correlational analyses indicated no relationship between counts and any of the hormones measured.

Adolescent↗

Immobilization 12 days (but not one hour) earlier enhanced 2-deoxy-D-glucose-induced immunosuppression: evidence for stressor-induced time-dependent sensitization of the immune system.

1. Prior exposure to a stressor can either increase or decrease subsequent behavioral, neurochemical, and endocrine reactivity to stress, depending on the pattern of stress exposure. 2. Massed or frequent exposures typically induce a reduction in reactivity whereas intermittent or widely spaced exposures increase subsequent reactivity. 3. In the present study, the authors examined whether a single presentation of a temporally remote stressor would increase the immunosuppressive effects of a subsequent stressor. Specifically, the authors investigated the effectiveness of 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG) in suppressing the responsiveness of splenic lymphocytes in male, Sprague-Dawley rats that received either no prior treatment, or immobilization either one hour or 12 days earlier. 4. Splenic lymphocyte responsiveness to the T-cell mitogens, Concanavalin A (Con-A) and phytohemagglutinin (PHA) was suppressed following a single injection of 2-DG. 5. The group exposed to the stress of immobilization one hour prior to 2-DG demonstrated a comparable level of immune suppression. 6. In contrast, animals immobilized 12 days prior to the administration of 2-DG showed a more pronounced suppression of immune responsiveness which was significantly greater than the other groups injected with 2-DG. 7. Neither the stress-induced elevation in corticosterone, nor the suppression of blood lymphocyte reactivity to Con-A and PHA was enhanced by prior immobilization. 8. The results indicate that the immunosuppressive effects of an acute stressor can sensitize with the passage of time.

Animals↗

Environment-specific tolerance to nicotine.

Research has shown that tolerance to the behavioral effects of numerous drugs is mediated by learning. The present study was designed to test whether animals develop tolerance to the antinociceptive effects of nicotine, and whether these effects are also learned. Rats were given dally injections of nicotine in the same environment. After each injection, the latency of tail withdrawal from a hot water bath was measured. This was continued until they were tolerant to the drug: i.e., their response latencies did not differ from animals repeatedly given saline. The role of learning in nicotine tolerance was assessed by changing the environment in which they received nicotine on the day after tolerance was achieved. When the drug environment was changed, the animals recovered the full dose effect of nicotine on tail-flick latencies. These results show that tolerance develops to nicotine's antinociceptive effects, and that this tolerance also may be influenced by learning.

Analgesics↗

Prior stress attenuates the analgesic response but sensitizes the corticosterone and cortical dopamine responses to stress 10 days later.

This study demonstrates that pre-exposure to stress influences subsequent effects of stress on pain sensitivity (stress-induced analgesia) and on plasma corticosterone and brain catecholamine activity. Animals exposed to a 30 min shock session (S1 = 8, 5.0 s shocks) 10 days earlier showed a significant attenuation of shock-induced analgesia, as measured by increased latency of tail withdrawal from a hot water bath immediately after a 40 s, 1.6 mA footshock (S2). Animals exposed to shock 10 days before testing also exhibited a higher plasma corticosterone response to testing than did all other groups. Norepinephrine (NE) levels in the frontal cortex and dopamine (DA) and dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC) levels in the frontal cortex and nucleus accumbens were not altered in any group. However, the DOPAC/DA ratio in the frontal cortex was increased by analgesia testing, and this increase was enhanced only by the combination of shock 10 days before testing and shock immediately before the test (S1 + S2). These results are consistent with previous reports from this laboratory which indicate that an animal's acute response to stress is strongly influenced by its past history of stress.

3,4-Dihydroxyphenylacetic Acid↗

Changing environmental cues reduces tolerance to nicotine-induced anorexia.

Male rats on a 22-h food deprivation schedule were injected daily with a low dose of nicotine and allowed to drink sweetened milk for 10 min in a test cage in the colony room. Nicotine initially suppressed milk intake but complete tolerance developed within 10 days so that the amount of intake did not differ from saline controls. The role of temporal cues was tested on the next day by changing the timing of cues, and omitting others that normally preceded nicotine injection while keeping constant the physical environment within which injection and testing took place and the drug-test interval. Changing the timing of injection significantly suppressed milk intake. These results show that tolerance to the anorectic effects of a low dose of nicotine is partially dependent on the presence and timing of cues associated with tolerance acquisition.

Animals↗

2-deoxy-D-glucose modulation of T-lymphocyte reactivity: differential effects on lymphoid compartments.

This study was designed to evaluate the effect of glucoprivation, as induced by 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG) administration, on lymphocyte mitogen reactivity in Sprague-Dawley rats. The results showed that a single injection of 2-DG decreased reactivity in both whole-blood and spleen lymphocytes, as determined by mitogenic stimulation to concanavalin A (Con A) and phytohemagglutinin (PHA). However, the suppressed reactivity for the spleen lymphocytes attenuated with repeated injections, but the whole-blood lymphocytes did not show attenuation. Mitogen assessments of lymphocytes obtained from the thymus indicated that a single injection did not induce suppressed reactivity, but repeated injections induced a pronounced suppression of responsiveness. Furthermore, mitogen assessments of mesentery lymph nodes did not show any effect of 2-DG injections. These results corroborate other findings using electric shock as the stressor, namely that different compartments of the immune system are differentially affected by a stressor.

Animals↗

Substantia nigra dopamine neurons: alterations in basal discharge rates and autoreceptor sensitivity induced by estrogen.

Treatment with estrogen was shown to exert differential effects on two subpopulations of putative substantia nigra dopamine-containing neurons as demonstrated by single cell electrophysiological techniques. The acute administration of 17 beta-estradiol to anesthetized, ovariectomized female rats increased the spontaneous activity of Type A, but decreased that of Type B neurons in a dose-dependent manner. Moreover, pretreatment with 17 beta-estradiol benzoate, 48 hr before recording, increased the response of Type A neurons to both small doses of the dopamine receptor agonist, apomorphine, and to microiontophoretically applied dopamine. In contrast, the responsiveness of Type B neurons to these same manipulations was significantly diminished by this pretreatment. Taken together, these data suggest that prior exposure to estrogen enhances the sensitivity of dopamine autoreceptors located on Type A neurons while attenuating the sensitivity of the autoreceptors located on Type B cells. The demonstration that estrogen has complex, bidirectional, rather than simple, unidirectional influences on the activity of dopamine cells of the nigra might aid in the understanding of current controversies in both the experimental animal and human clinical literature bearing on behaviorally relevant interactions between estrogen and brain dopamine systems.

Animals↗