Biomedical subjects

D Agrati

Publications and source records attributed to D Agrati.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2005

Motivational aspects of maternal anxiolysis in lactating rats.

RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVE: This study examines the role of maternal motivation on the reduced anxiety-like responses displayed by lactating rats in the plus maze test. RESULTS: Maternal animals, both lactating and sensitized (ovariectomized females behaving maternal after a continuous exposure to pups), displayed anxiolytic-like responses in the plus maze test in contrast to ovariectomized non-maternal rats. However, the levels of experimental anxiety were lower in lactating than in sensitized females. Pups placed in the open arms of the maze further reduced the low levels of anxiety-like behavior of both sensitized and lactating rats. Low doses of haloperidol (0.05 and 0.1 mg/kg), a dopamine antagonist, which interfere with maternal motivation but has neither anxiolytic nor anxiogenic effect in the plus maze test, significantly increased the anxiety-like responses of lactating rats. The presence of the pups in the open arms of the maze overrode the behavioral effect of haloperidol on lactating dams' anxiety-related behavior. CONCLUSIONS: These experiments show that maternity induces changes in the way the animals react to the environment, rendering them less anxious to aversive stimuli. The degree of experimental anxiolysis displayed by maternal animals varies according to their maternal motivation, which is modulated by the female's endocrine state, the pups and/or the dopaminergic system.

Animals↗

PubMed2005

Experimental anxiety in the black and white model in cycling, pregnant and lactating rats.

This study demonstrates changes in experimental anxiety assessed in the black and white paradigm during various reproductive states of female rats. Low levels of experimental anxiety were observed during late proestrus and on day 17 of gestation, stages related to high progesterone (P) levels. In estrus, metestrus, diestrus and on day 21 of gestation, stages characterized by low P concentrations, high levels of experimental anxiety, similar to those exhibited by ovariectomized females, were found. No changes in experimental anxiety were observed on day 8 of lactation compared to ovariectomized females. These data are discussed from the standpoint of the putative anxiolytic-like effect of progestins.

Analysis of Variance↗

PubMed2002

Role of maternal behavior on aggression, fear and anxiety.

Concomitant to the expression of maternal behavior, the lactating female develops anxiolysis in the elevated plus maze test, aggression towards intruders and reduced fear in response to a sudden auditory stimulus. This study aims to determine if these behavioral changes are associated with maternal behavior independently of the endocrine status that characterizes gestation, parturition and lactation. To assess this purpose, the behavior of lactating females was compared to that exhibited by maternal and nonmaternal ovariectomized rats untreated with steroid hormones. In contrast with lactating dams, sensitized animals (rats that displayed maternal behavior after a continuous contact with young pups) did not display reduced anxiety in the plus maze test. However, the sensitized females showed behaviors characteristic of lactating rats, such as some components of maternal aggression and reduced fear, though much less intensely than dams. These results suggest that aggression and reduced fear, but not anxiolysis, partially depend on the development of maternal behavior.

Aggression↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[Liver involvement in syphilis].

The authors report two cases of syphilitic hepatitis. In the first case, acute hepatitis occurred during the secondary stage of syphilis. The diagnosis was made without waiting for the hepatitis to respond to penicillin treatment, on the basis of the following signs: icterus involving inflammatory syndrome, moderate cytolysis, clear retention, eruption of papular syphilids and a strongly positive test for syphilis. The second case involved a female patient who had been treated 15 years earlier for bone syphilis with ulcerous gummas. The signs were sclerotic, gummatous, hepatic lesions revealed by a syndrome of calcified hepatic lesions. The serologic test for syphilis was negative in this patient. Laparotomy and biopsy were necessary before a firm diagnosis could be made. The authors examine literature data concerning this pathology.

Adult↗