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K W Perry

Publications and source records attributed to K W Perry.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Measurement of acetylcholine and choline in brain by HPLC with electrochemical detection.

A simple and rapid method for measuring acetylcholine and choline using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with electrochemical detection is presented. Acetylcholine and choline were first separated using reverse-phase chromatography; acetylcholine was then hydrolyzed post-column to choline by acetylcholinesterase. Choline was oxidized enzymatically by choline oxidase to betaine and hydrogen peroxide, and the peroxide was detected electrochemically. Changes in methodology from previous procedures include a different mobile phase, controlled heating of chromatography column and post-column reaction coil, and a different extraction method for quaternary amines. The changes resulted in less inhibition of derivatizing enzymes by mobile phase, narrow and consistent elution of peaks, and a rapid and efficient extraction of quaternary amines. Measurement of acetylcholine and choline in brain tissue was found to be replicable, and the levels agreed with literature values.

Acetylcholine

Pergolide elevation of MHPG sulphate concentration in rat hypothalamus blocked by spiperone and mimicked by other dopamine agonists.

Pergolide increased the concentration of MHPG sulphate (3-methoxy-4-hydroxy-phenylethylene glycol sulphate) in rat hypothalamus, and the increase was prevented by pretreatment with spiperone, a dopamine antagonist. An increase in hypothalamic MHPG sulphate concentration similar to that caused by pergolide was found after injection of quinpirole, a 'partial ergoline' that is a selective D2 agonist not affecting alpha-adrenoceptors, and by (-)-N-propylnorapomorphine, a dopamine agonist not related to the ergolines. Although the increase in MHPG sulphate concentration produced by pergolide had earlier been assumed to result from blockage of alpha-adrenoceptors, the present data indicate that it is an effect produced by dopamine D2 receptor stimulation.

3,4-Dihydroxyphenylacetic Acid

Comparison of spontaneous and retinoic acid stimulated rabbit articular cartilage degradation in vitro.

The in vitro degradation of rabbit articular cartilage explants was evaluated with and without the addition of retinoic acid under various experimental conditions. Retinoic acid at nontoxic concentrations ranging from 1 X 10(-7) to 1 X 10(-5) M significantly increased cartilage degradation. The addition of phenanthroline or cycloheximide, but not pepstatin, significantly inhibited spontaneous and retinoic-acid-stimulated cartilage degradation at pH 7. When the pH was reduced to 5, only pepstatin inhibited spontaneous and retinoic-acid-stimulated cartilage degradation. No chondroitin sulphate release was observed when the temperature was reduced to 4 degrees C. The different inhibitory profiles observed at pH 7 and pH 5 suggest that cartilage degradation at pH 7 is associated with the presence and synthesis of a neutral metalloproteinase.

Animals

Tropolone antagonism of the L-dopa-induced elevation of S-adenosylhomocysteine: S-adenosylmethionine ratio but not depletion of adrenaline in rat hypothalamus.

Tropolone, an inhibitor of catechol O-methyl transferase, largely prevented the increase in SAH : SAMe ratio in rat hypothalamus following L-dopa injection. Tropolone did not prevent but instead enhanced the decrease produced by L-dopa of adrenaline concentration in rat hypothalamus. The results imply that the decrease in hypothalamic adrenaline concentration following L-dopa injection was not caused by the increase in SAH : SAMe ratio.

Animals

Effect of a stereospecific D2-dopamine agonist on acetylcholine concentration in corpus striatum of rat brain.

The enantiomers of LY141865, trans(+/-)-4,4a,5,6,7,8a,9-octahydro-5-propyl-2H-pyrazolo[3,4-g]qu inoline, were compared as dopamine D2 agonists by determining their abilities to elevate acetylcholine concentrations in rat corpus striatum. The levorotatory isomer, LY156258, increased striatal acetylcholine concentration at doses of 0.1-1 mg/kg i.p., whereas the dextrorotatory isomer had no effect even at doses as high as 30 mg/kg. The levorotatory isomer also decreased striatal concentrations of the dopamine metabolites, 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid and homovanillic acid, but did not significantly alter dopamine or 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid concentration. The dextrorotatory isomer had no effect on any of these substances alone and did not alter the effects of the levorotatory isomer. The elevation of striatal acetylcholine levels by LY156258 was mimicked by pergolide, a dopamine agonist, and was totally prevented by pretreatment with haloperidol, a dopamine antagonist. The elevation of striatal acetylcholine concentration by LY157258 was maximal at 0.5 hour and declined thereafter, following a time course similar to that of pergolide. Neither LY141865 nor LY156258 shared with peroglide and dopamine the ability to activate striatal adenylate cyclase in vitro, an effect mediated by D1 receptors. LY141865 and LY156258 (but not the dextrorotatory isomer) inhibited the binding of tritiated apomorphine and spiperone to striatal membrane receptors, but were not as potent as pergolide, they also had less effect, or no effect, on the binding of other tritiated ligands (dopamine, WB4101, clonidine, dihydroalprenolol, pyrilamine or quinuclidinyl benzilate) to their membrane receptors. These results indicate that LY156258 stereospecifically activates dopamine D2 receptors and the studies are the first evidence of sterospecificity of dopamine receptors mediating an increase in striatal acetylcholine concentration.

Acetylcholine

Fluoxetine increases long-lasting neostriatal dopamine depletion after administration of d-methamphetamine and d-amphetamine.

Repeated administration of large doses of d-methamphetamine produce long-lasting depletion of brain dopamine (DA) and serotonin (5-HT), as well as persistent decreases in the activity of their respective biosynthetic enzymes, tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) and tryptophan hydroxylase (TPH). The present results indicate that the inhibitor of 5-HT uptake fluoxetine, prevented the long-term depletion of 5-HT produced by large doses of methamphetamine (15 mg/kg X 5, 6 hr apart) in the neostriatum and hippocampus, while simultaneously augmenting the depletion of DA produced by this drug in the neostriatum. Fluoxetine also enhanced the prolonged neostriatal depletion of DA produced by a comparable regimen of d-amphetamine. In these doses (15 mg/kg X 5,6 hr apart), d-amphetamine did not produce long-lasting depletion of 5-HT in either the neostriatum or hippocampus. Larger depletion of DA after the amphetamines had been administered in the fluoxetine pretreated animal were associated with a transient increase in the brain levels of methamphetamine and amphetamine. This suggests that fluoxetine may inhibit the metabolism of amphetamines.

Animals

Dopamine accumulation after dopamine beta-hydroxylase inhibition in rat heart as an index of norepinephrine turnover.

Dopamine concentration in rat heart is normally very low, only a few percent of the concentration of norepinephrine. After treatment of rats with a dopamine beta-hydroxylase inhibitor, 1-cyclohexyl-2-mercapto-imidazole (CHMI), there was a rapid increase in dopamine concentration even before norepinephrine concentration had decreased perceptibility. This accumulation of dopamine was readily measured by liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection. Since the percentage change in dopamine was much greater than the percentage change in norepinephrine, especially at early times, measurement of dopamine accumulation rather than norepinephrine decline was considered as a useful measure of norepinephrine turnover. Drugs that act on noradrenergic receptors and are known to alter norepinephrine turnover were found to alter the rate of dopamine accumulation. Clonidine and guanabenz decreased dopamine accumulation after CHMI, whereas piperoxan (but not prazosin) increased dopamine accumulation after CHMI. Pergolide, a dopamine agonist whose lowering of blood pressure and cardiac rate has been suggested to be due to suppression of neurogenic release or norepinephrine, also decreased dopamine accumulation after CHMI. The results suggest that measuring dopamine accumulation may have advantages over measuring norepinephrine disappearance after dopamine beta-hydroxylase inhibition as an indicator of norepinephrine turnover in heart.

Animals

Depletion of epinephrine in rat hypothalamus by a dopamine agonist, pergolide.

The i.p. injection of pergolide mesylate, a dopamine agonist, at doses of 0.3-0.6 mg/kg led to a decrease in epinephrine concentration in rat hypothalamus. After a 0.6 mg/kg dose of pergolide mesylate, epinephrine concentration in hypothalamus decreased within 2 hr, reached a minimum concentration at about 8 hrs, and then returned toward control values. Norepinephrine N-methyltransferase activity was not decreased after pergolide injection in vivo nor was it inhibited by pergolide added in vitro at concentrations as high as 10(-3) M. Higher i.p. doses of less potent dopamine agonists, apomorphine (10 mg/kg) and lergotrile (3 mg/kg), also decreased epinephrine concentration in hypothalamus. The pergolide-induced decrease in hypothalamic epinephrine concentration was prevented by pretreatment with haloperidol or spiperone, antagonists of dopamine receptors. Activation of dopamine receptors appears to result in a decrease in epinephrine concentration in rat brain, possibly due to enhanced release of epinephrine.

Animals

Ionophore (A23187)-induced efflux of [3H]norepinephrine and endogenous norepinephrine in the rat vas deferens.

The calcium ionophore, A23187, produced a concentration-dependent increase in the release of norepinephrine from nerves in the rat vas deferens. Maximum response to A23187 (10(-6) - 10(-5) M) was delayed in onset, occurring 60-80 min after initiation of continuous superfusion with A23187. In fact. after tissue exposure to A23187 (10(-5) M) for only 5 min with subsequent superfusion in A23187-free buffer, a significant but delayed increase in norepinephrine efflux occurred. The A23187-induced increase in efflux of norepinephrine was not altered when neuronal sodium conductance was blocked with tetrodotoxin (3.1 X 10(-7) M) or when Na+, K+ -stimulated ATPase was blocked with ouabain (10(-4) M). Release of norepinephrine by A23187 was calcium-dependent since A23187-induced efflux of norepinephrine was diminished (approximately 50%), although not abolished, in calcium-free buffer. Thus, one component of A23187 action was calcium independent. A23187 caused an increased efflux of both norepinephrine formed endogenously and [3H]norepinephrine taken up into neuronal stores. However, the effects of A23187, both on rate and maximum amount of release were greater for [3H]norepinephrine than for endogenous norepinephrine. The present studies demonstrate that neurotransmitter efflux can be induced by carboxylic ionophores in a calcium-dependent process, and this approach may prove useful in studies evaluating factors that modulate neurotransmitter release processes.

Animals