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Biomedical subjects

T N Chase

Publications and source records attributed to T N Chase.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Differential effect of subthalamic nucleus ablation on dopamine D1 and D2 agonist-induced rotation in 6-hydroxydopamine-lesioned rats.

The effect of unilateral subthalamic nucleus ablation on rotation in response to dopamine D1 and D2 agonists was examined in rats with a unilateral 6-OHDA lesion of the nigrostriatal pathway. Four to five weeks following subthalamic nucleus lesion, D2 agonist-induced rotation was reduced in subthalamic nucleus-lesioned rats relative to sham controls, although no such reduction in D1 agonist-induced circling occurred. However, 1-2 weeks following subthalamic nucleus lesion marked reductions occurred in both D1 and D2 agonist-induced rotation in subthalamic nucleus lesioned rats compared to sham controls. These results suggest that the subthalamic nucleus contributes primarily to the expression of D2-mediated motor behaviors, although ablation of the subthalamic nucleus may induce certain time-dependent compensatory mechanisms in other basal ganglia structures which affect D1-mediated actions.

2,3,4,5-Tetrahydro-7,8-dihydroxy-1-phenyl-1H-3-ben

Dopaminergic modulation of striatal neuropeptides: differential effects of D1 and D2 receptor stimulation on somatostatin, neuropeptide Y, neurotensin, dynorphin and enkephalin.

Dopaminergic modulation of neuropeptides in rat striatum was investigated by examining the effects of prolonged D1 or D2 receptor stimulation on levels of somatostatin, neuropeptide Y, neurotensin, dynorphin and enkephalin. Rats with a unilateral 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) lesion of the nigrostriatal pathway were treated for 7 days with either the D1 agonist SKF 38393 (12.5 mg/kg/day) or the D2 agonist quinpirole (1 mg/kg/day). Two regimens of agonist treatment were compared: continuous infusion via osmotic pump implanted i.p. and intermittent (once daily) i.p. injection. Rats were sacrificed 3 h after the last injection and peptide levels measured in the striatum bilaterally by radioimmunoassay; alterations in peptide content were observed primarily in the denervated striatum. In comparison to values from lesioned, vehicle-treated controls, intermittent administration of SKF 38393 reduced somatostatin and neuropeptide Y (down 61% and 57%, respectively), increased neurotensin (up 105%) and dynorphin (up 184%) and had no effect on enkephalin; continuous SKF 38393 decreased neuropeptide Y by 39% but did not alter levels of the other peptides. Continuous quinpirole elevated somatostatin and neuropeptide Y levels (up 43% and 33%, respectively), but reduced the lesion-induced increases in both neurotensin (down 51%) and enkephalin (down 24%) content. Conversely, intermittent quinpirole decreased somatostatin (down 35%) and neuropeptide Y (down 27%), increased neurotensin content by 79% and had no effect on enkephalin. Dynorphin levels were not altered by either continuous or intermittent quinpirole. These findings reveal the complexity of dopaminergic influences on striatal neuropeptides.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

2,3,4,5-Tetrahydro-7,8-dihydroxy-1-phenyl-1H-3-ben

Limbic system abnormalities identified in schizophrenia using positron emission tomography with fluorodeoxyglucose and neocortical alterations with deficit syndrome.

A hypothesis of psychosis localization in schizophrenia was derived from studying metabolic alterations in rat brain in response to phencyclidine hydrochloride administration. Since phencyclidine and its selective agonist dizocilpine maleate (MK801) induced overlapping and long-lasting metabolic alterations predominantly in limbic areas, the hypothesis developed that schizophrenic patients with psychosis would evidence functional abnormalities in limbic circuits compared with normal controls. Accordingly, 12 actively psychotic, drug-free patients with schizophrenia and matched normal controls underwent functional brain scans using positron emission tomography and fluorodeoxyglucose. Regions of interest were identified on five matched axial slices in each patient and control subject, and average metabolic rates were calculated. Patients with schizophrenia showed a significantly lower regional cerebral metabolic rate of glucose in the hippocampus and the anterior cingulate cortex than did normal controls, but not in neocortical areas or in the extrapyramidal system. When the group of schizophrenic patients was divided into deficit and nondeficit types, a preliminary exploratory analysis suggested thalamic, frontal, and parietal cortical hypometabolism in the deficit subgroup, with normal metabolism in the nondeficit patient group in those areas; in contrast, hippocampal and anterior cingulate cortical metabolism was reduced in both deficit and nondeficit subtypes. These results suggest that the limbic system, especially the hippocampus, is functionally involved in schizophrenic psychosis and that different manifestations of schizophrenia may involve different neuronal circuits.

Adolescent

Continuous lisuride effects on central dopaminergic mechanisms in Parkinson's disease.

Effects of the long term, continuous administration of a dopamine agonist on motor response complications attending levodopa therapy were studied in 7 patients with advanced Parkinson's disease under controlled conditions. After a 3-month round-the-clock infusion of lisuride, the duration of antiparkinsonian action of levodopa increased by approximately 90%, and the therapeutic window for the acutely administered dopamine precursor widened by > 300%. These benefits were more than three times greater than those produced by 9 days of continuous levodopa administration. In contrast to the effects on levodopa pharmacodynamics, the continuous infusion of lisuride did not prolong its action, suggesting a lisuride effect on presynaptic as well as postsynaptic dopaminergic mechanisms. These results lend further support to the view that continuous dopamine replacement ameliorates motor fluctuations and peak-dose dyskinesias that complicate standard levodopa regimens. Our findings further suggest that alterations at both presynaptic and postsynaptic levels contributing to these motor complications tend to normalize with the more physiological stimulation afforded by continuous replacement strategies, especially when given chronically.

Adult

Effect of aging and dopaminomimetic therapy on mitochondrial respiratory function in Parkinson's disease.

Oxygen consumption and enzyme activity were evaluated in platelet mitochondria from 17 patients with Parkinson's disease. In comparison with age-matched controls, no consistent abnormality could be discerned in complex I, complex II-III, or complex IV oxygen consumption, or in the enzyme activity of these respiratory chain complexes. Neither chronic therapy with levodopa/carbidopa alone nor in combination with deprenyl significantly affected any measure of mitochondrial respiratory function. There was no discernible relationship between patient age or disease severity and any parameter of mitochondrial respiration. Moreover, blood lactate levels following glucose loading were not different in patients and controls. These results fail to support the occurrence of a generalized defect in any mitochondrial respiratory function in Parkinson's disease.

Age Factors

Effects of cholinergic agonists on regional brain energy metabolism in the scopolamine-treated rat.

The effects of scopolamine, physostigmine, RS86 and U-80816B on regional energy metabolism were studied in rodents by means of the 2-deoxyglucose autoradiographic technique. Scopolamine depressed metabolism in an area of cerebral cortex, focused around the parietal region. Rats treated with cholinergic direct agonists (U-80816B, RS86) as well as with the indirect agonist (physostigmine) all showed decreases in cortical energy metabolism, similar to scopolamine. They also induced an increase in thalamic metabolism. When these drugs were given in conjunction with scopolamine, metabolism tended to change in the opposite direction from the values obtained with the drug alone. These results suggest that there are complex interactions between pre- and post-synaptic muscarinic receptors. Additionally, nicotinic receptors could also be involved in some of the effects of physostigmine.

Animals

Glutamatergic therapy of Huntington's chorea.

Preclinical evidence suggests that hypofunction of the glutamatergic subthalamopallidal tract may contribute to the hyperkinesis in Huntington's chorea. The clinical effects of milacemide, a glycine prodrug, were studied in seven patients with Huntington's disease under double-blind, placebo-controlled conditions. Oral doses of 1,200 mg/day did not alter chorea or cognitive dysfunction. Specific modulatory effects of glycine on the NMDA subtype of glutamate receptors, rather than the AMPA receptors, which may predominate among target neurons of the subthalamus, may explain the therapeutic failure of milacemide.

Acetamides

CSF galanin and neuropeptide Y immunoreactivity in progressive supranuclear palsy.

Progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) has been associated with degenerative changes in cholinergic and dopaminergic neurons in several brain regions. Since acetylcholine is colocalized with the neuropeptide galanin in certain neuronal populations, we measured the concentration of this neuropeptide and neuropeptide Y in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of 11 patients with PSP and in 16 age-matched healthy controls. No significant alterations in the CSF levels of galanin or neuropeptide Y were found.

Aged

Heterogeneity in Alzheimer's disease: progression rate segregated by distinct neuropsychological and cerebral metabolic profiles.

In an attempt to define possible subgroups of Alzheimer's disease, 21 patients satisfying current clinical diagnostic criteria for this disorder were divided on the basis of progression rates of symptoms. Thirteen patients with relatively rapid intellectual deterioration did not differ from eight patients showing slow progression with respect to global intellectual performance, sex, or age at onset of symptoms. Neuropsychological testing revealed that although the two groups were indistinguishable in verbal or visuospatial functions associated with the parietotemporal cortex, the more rapidly deteriorating group had significantly greater impairment in executive functions attributed to the frontal lobe. PET scans showed equivalent reductions in glucose metabolism in the parietotemporal cortex, but patients with relatively fast progression had significantly greater hypometabolism frontally. These results suggest an association between relatively severe frontal lobe involvement and a rapid clinical course that might have important implications for the development of treatment strategies for patients with Alzheimer's disease.

Aged

Failure of buspirone and verapamil to improve spasmodic torticollis.

The effects of buspirone and verapamil on spasmodic torticollis were investigated in two double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover studies. Buspirone was given in doses of 20-100 mg/day for 4 weeks to 14 patients; verapamil was given in doses of 40-100 mg/day for 3 weeks to 8 patients. Neither drug improved symptoms of the movement disorder (posture, motility, rigidity, tremor), pain, perceived stress, or mood, either in the whole group or in any individual patient.

Adult

A comparison of FDG PET and IQNB SPECT in normal subjects and in patients with dementia.

Prior studies of patients with dementia have found similar qualitative patterns of cerebral glucose utilization with [18F]2-fluoro-2-deoxyglucose (FDG) PET and of putative muscarinic receptor activity with [123I]3-quinuclidinyl-4-iodobenzilate (IQNB). This raised doubts about whether receptor binding determines IQNB distribution and whether clinical information in IQNB scans is unique. To compare the methods directly, 4 normal volunteers and 7 patients with dementia underwent FDG PET and high-resolution IQNB SPECT scans. In normal subjects, relative regional activity from the paired scans was only weakly correlated (r = 0.29). Some regions (e.g., thalamus, frontal cortex) showed a clear disassociation of activity. In demented patients, IQNB scans tended to show larger defects than FDG scans, although one focal defect appeared only with PET. Results suggest that IQNB SPECT data are not primarily related to general physiological activity or regional cerebral blood flow and are not explained by attenuation or volume-averaging artifacts. Further studies should investigate whether IQNB scanning is a more sensitive in vivo measure of the extent of Alzheimer's disease than is FDG PET.

Adult

Deprenyl effects on levodopa pharmacodynamics, mood, and free radical scavenging.

Clinical evidence suggests that deprenyl may slow progression of Parkinson's disease, although mechanisms underlying this putative neuroprotective action remain poorly understood. To address this issue, we studied deprenyl in 12 parkinsonian patients using a single-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover design. After 1 month, deprenyl (10 mg/d) decreased the optimal levodopa requirement by 24% (oral) and 16% (intravenous). Levodopa-induced dyskinesias were prolonged by 430%, and antiparkinsonian action by 44%. Mood improved by 47%. One month after withdrawing deprenyl, effects on dyskinesias and mood had yet to return to baseline. There was no change in activities of circulating glutathione peroxidase, glutathione reductase, glutathione transferase, superoxide dismutase, and catalase, nor in levels of lipid peroxide and vitamin E. Deprenyl also failed to modify CSF levels of total glutathione and activities of glutathione peroxidase or superoxide dismutase. These effects on levodopa pharmacodynamics and mood complicate the interpretation of available investigations of deprenyl's neuroprotective action and increase the risk of adverse effects of levodopa.

Affect

Partial dopamine agonist therapy of levodopa-induced dyskinesias.

We administered the partial dopamine agonist terguride under controlled conditions to patients with Parkinson's disease (PD), both as monotherapy and in conjunction with intravenous levodopa. Terguride produced a dose-dependent decrease in levodopa-induced dyskinesias (up to 53%) in seven patients without concomitant worsening of parkinsonism, and had no significant antiparkinsonian effect when administered alone. Partial dopamine agonists may hold some promise in the adjuvant therapy of patients with advanced PD.

Adult

Neuropsychological and glucose metabolic profiles in asymmetric Parkinson's disease.

Patients with predominantly unilateral parkinsonian signs may provide a unique opportunity to evaluate the cerebral representation of cognitive functions characteristically affected in idiopathic Parkinson's disease. Twenty hemiparkinsonian patients (ten left and ten right) and 10 healthy controls, matched for age and education, were studied with neuropsychological tests and positron emission tomography. Both right and left hemiparkinsonians evidenced impairments in visuospatial and verbal episodic memory function, but had no deficits in executive abilities, compared to controls. None of the neuropsychological test scores distinguished right from left hemiparkinsonians. Glucose metabolic profiles were identical for the three groups in all cortical areas assessed; in the subcortex however, lenticular hypermetabolism contralateral to the predominant side of motor involvement was evident in the left hemiparkinsonian group. Correlational analysis revealed that higher glucose metabolic rates in the basal ganglia of these hemiparkinsonians were associated with lower visuospatial test scores. In frontal and parietal cortex, decreasing glucose metabolism was positively associated with neurobehavioral function; in temporal cortex, measures of attention and memory decreased with increasing glucose metabolic rates.

Adult