Replication study on the role of dopamine-dependent prefrontal reactivations in human extinction memory retrieval.

Even after successful extinction, conditioned fear can return. Strengthening the consolidation of the fear-inhibitory safety memory formed during extinction is one way to counteract return of fear. In a previous study, we found that post-extinction L-DOPA administration improved extinction memory retrieval 24 h later. Furthermore, spontaneous post-extinction reactivations of a neural activation pattern evoked in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) during extinction predicted extinction memory retrieval, L-DOPA increased the number of these reactivations, and this mediated the effect of L-DOPA on extinction memory retrieval. Here, we conducted a preregistered replication study of this work in healthy male participants. We confirm that spontaneous post-extinction vmPFC reactivations predict extinction memory retrieval. This predictive effect, however, was only observed 90 min after extinction, and was not statistically significant at 45 min as in the discovery study. In contrast to our previous study, we find no evidence that L-DOPA administration significantly enhances retrieval and that this is mediated by enhancement of the number of vmPFC reactivations. However, additional non-preregistered analyses reveal a beneficial effect of L-DOPA on extinction retrieval when controlling for the trait-like stable baseline levels of salivary alpha-amylase enzymatic activity. Further, trait salivary alpha-amylase negatively predicts retrieval, and this effect is reduced by L-DOPA treatment. Importantly, the latter findings result from non-preregistered analyses and thus further investigation is needed.

Alpha-2 Adrenoreceptor Antagonist Yohimbine Potentiates Consolidation of Conditioned Fear.

BACKGROUND: Hyperconsolidation of aversive associations and poor extinction learning have been hypothesized to be crucial in the acquisition of pathological fear. Previous animal and human research points to the potential role of the catecholaminergic system, particularly noradrenaline and dopamine, in acquiring emotional memories. Here, we investigated in a between-participants design with 3 groups whether the noradrenergic alpha-2 adrenoreceptor antagonist yohimbine and the dopaminergic D2-receptor antagonist sulpiride modulate long-term fear conditioning and extinction in humans. METHODS: Fifty-five healthy male students were recruited. The final sample consisted of n = 51 participants who were explicitly aware of the contingencies between conditioned stimuli (CS) and unconditioned stimuli after fear acquisition. The participants were then randomly assigned to 1 of the 3 groups and received either yohimbine (10 mg, n = 17), sulpiride (200 mg, n = 16), or placebo (n = 18) between fear acquisition and extinction. Recall of conditioned (non-extinguished CS+ vs CS-) and extinguished fear (extinguished CS+ vs CS-) was assessed 1 day later, and a 64-channel electroencephalogram was recorded. RESULTS: The yohimbine group showed increased salivary alpha-amylase activity, confirming a successful manipulation of central noradrenergic release. Elevated fear-conditioned bradycardia and larger differential amplitudes of the N170 and late positive potential components in the event-related brain potential indicated that yohimbine treatment (compared with a placebo and sulpiride) enhanced fear recall during day 2. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that yohimbine potentiates cardiac and central electrophysiological signatures of fear memory consolidation. They thereby elucidate the key role of noradrenaline in strengthening the consolidation of conditioned fear associations, which may be a key mechanism in the etiology of fear-related disorders.

Salivary α-amylase, serum albumin, and myoglobin protect against DNA-damaging activities of ingested dietary agents in vitro.

Potent DNA-damaging activities were seen in vitro from dietary chemicals found in coffee, tea, and liquid smoke. A survey of tea varieties confirmed genotoxic activity to be widespread. Constituent pyrogallol-like polyphenols (PLPs) such as epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), pyrogallol, and gallic acid were proposed as a major source of DNA-damaging activities, inducing DNA double-strand breaks in the p53R assay, a well characterized assay sensitive to DNA strand breaks, and comet assay. Paradoxically, their consumption does not lead to the kind of widespread cellular toxicity and acute disease that might be expected from genotoxic exposure. Existing physiological mechanisms could limit DNA damage from dietary injurants. Serum albumin and salivary α-amylase are known to bind EGCG. Salivary α-amylase, serum albumin, and myoglobin, but not salivary proline-rich proteins, reduced damage from tea, coffee, and PLPs, but did not inhibit damage from the chemotherapeutics etoposide and camptothecin. This represents a novel function for saliva in addition to its known functions including protection against tannins. Cell populations administered repeated pyrogallol exposures had abatement of measured DNA damage by two weeks, indicating an innate cellular adaptation. We suggest that layers of physiological protections may exist toward natural dietary products to which animals have had high-level exposure over evolution.

Salivary α-amylase exhibits antiproliferative effects in primary cell cultures of rat mammary epithelial cells and human breast cancer cells.

BACKGROUND: Breast cancer is one of the most diagnosed cancers in females, frequently with fatal outcome, so that new strategies for modulating cell proliferation in the mammary tissue are urgently needed. There is some, as yet inconclusive evidence that α-amylase may constitute a novel candidate for affecting cellular growth. METHODS: The present investigation aimed to examine if salivary α-amylase, an enzyme well known for the metabolism of starch and recently introduced as a stress marker, is able to exert antiproliferative effects on the growth of mammary gland epithelial cells. For this purpose, primary epithelial cultures of breast tissue from two different inbred rat strains, Fischer 344 (F344) and Lewis, as well as breast tumor cells of human origin were used. Treatment with human salivary α-amylase was performed once daily for 2 days followed by cell counting (trypan blue assay) to determine alterations in cell numbers. Cell senescence after α-amylase treatment was assessed by ß-galactosidase assay. Endogenous α-amylase was detected in cells from F344 and Lewis by immunofluorescence. RESULTS: Salivary α-amylase treatment in vitro significantly decreased the proliferation of primary cells from F344 and Lewis rats in a concentration-dependent manner. Noticeably, the sensitivity towards α-amylase was significantly higher in Lewis cells with stronger impact on cell growth after 5 and 50 U/ml compared to F344 cells. An antiproliferative effect of α-amylase was also determined in mammary tumor cells of human origin, but this effect varied depending on the donor, age, and type of the cells. CONCLUSIONS: The results presented here indicate for the first time that salivary α-amylase affects cell growth in rat mammary epithelial cells and in breast tumor cells of human origin. Thus, α-amylase may be considered a novel, promising target for balancing cellular growth, which may provide an interesting tool for tumor prophylaxis and treatment.