Normalization of spiroperidol binding in the denervated rat striatum by homologous grafts of substantia nigra.

Transplantation of embryonic substantia nigra into the adult rat brain decreases the motor asymmetry that is produced by dopamine receptor supersensitivity after a unilateral lesion of the substantia nigra. The authors report that this effect of transplantation is specific to grafts of substantia nigra. They also report that, in conjunction with the decrease in motor asymmetry, these grafts cause postsynaptic dopaminergic binding sites to return to normal density as measured by tritiated spiroperidol autoradiography. Thus, in animals with brain lesions, grafts of substantia nigra produce a long-term alteration in the functional status of host brain cell receptors that is associated with a reduction in the behavioral deficit.

Plasma 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylglycol changes associated with clinical state and schizophrenic subtype.

In a study of 14 drug-free schizophrenic patients and 22 healthy control subjects, the plasma 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylglycol (MHPG) level appeared to be altered by changes in clinical state. Repeated sampling in schizophrenic patients showed that plasma MHPG values were elevated in high-psychosis phases in comparison with metabolite levels at times of lower psychosis. There was a nonsignificant trend toward higher MHPG levels in paranoid schizophrenic patients in comparison with patients who had undifferentiated schizophrenia. Paranoid schizophrenic patients had significantly elevated plasma MHPG levels in comparison with previously studied healthy controls. These findings suggested that alterations in the plasma MHPG level may reflect psychosis-related changes in norepinephrine function in schizophrenia.

Panic-induced elevation of plasma MHPG levels in phobic-anxious patients. Effects of clonidine and imipramine.

Six subjects with the phobic-anxiety syndrome were treated in a controlled, crossover trial of clonidine hydrochloride v imipramine hydrochloride for periods of four weeks each. During each drug trial and during baseline placebo treatment, each patient exposed himself or herself to a situation that previously elicited panic attacks. Self-rated anxiety and plasma levels of 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylethylene glycol (MHPG) were measured to study the effect of the drug treatments on noradrenergic activity and anxiety. Plasma MHPG level correlated highly with rated anxiety under all conditions, and was consistent with significant symptom reduction by clonidine or imipramine. Diminished suppression of plasma MHPG concentrations in two subjects was associated with the continued emergence of panic symptoms in response to phobic stimuli.

Effects of yohimbine on human sympathetic nervous system function.

The alpha 2-adrenergic receptor antagonist yohimbine is often used as a neuroendocrine probe in human studies, in which it is assumed to increase plasma norepinephrine (NE) by increasing sympathetic outflow. In this study we have tested that assumption by using a radioisotope dilution technique to measure norepinephrine (NE) kinetics in arterialized plasma after administration of oral yohimbine (20 or 40 mg) or placebo to normal young men. In agreement with previous studies, we found that yohimbine causes dose-dependent increases in blood pressure, heart rate, and plasma NE. We further found that the increase in plasma NE is, in fact, due to an increase in the rate of appearance of NE into plasma and not to reduced NE clearance from plasma. In addition, we found that yohimbine causes a dose-dependent increase in plasma epinephrine, which had not been found in studies measuring catecholamines in venous plasma. We conclude that yohimbine increases plasma NE levels by increasing the rate of NE release from sympathetic nerves, and probably increases epinephrine release from the adrenals.

Autonomic responses to stress in Vietnam combat veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder.

This study tested the hypothesis that combat veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) experience sympathetic nervous system activation in response to war-related laboratory stimuli. Circulating plasma catecholamines, vital signs, and affect ratings were measured in 10 Vietnam combat veterans with PTSD and 11 control subjects, during and after viewing combat and noncombat stress films. PTSD subjects responded more strongly than controls to the combat film, with greater increases in plasma epinephrine, pulse, blood pressure, and subjective distress. The increases in autonomic activity of PTSD subjects was more pronounced and long lasting in response to the combat film than to the noncombat film, but type of film had no systematic effect on control subjects' responses. These findings are consistent with biological models that posit sympathoadrenal activation in response to memory-evoking cues of traumatic events in PTSD.

Impaired prepulse inhibition of acoustic startle in schizophrenia.

BACKGROUND: Schizophrenics show deficits in sensorimotor gating, as measured by prepulse inhibition of acoustic startle (PPI). The goal of this investigation is to further characterize PPI and habituation deficits in schizophrenia, and to examine whether differing subgroups of schizophrenics would show comparable PPI deficits. METHODS: PPI was measured in 24 male schizophrenic subjects (9 acutely decompensated inpatients and 15 stable outpatients) and in 20 age-matched normal control subjects. Schizophrenic subjects were rated for positive and negative symptoms at the time of testing. RESULTS: Schizophrenic subjects showed deficits in prepulse inhibition and habituation as compared to normal subjects. Similar latency facilitation was produced by the prepulse in both groups. Acutely decompensated inpatients and stable outpatients did not differ in percent PPI. PPI did not correlate with severity of positive or negative symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that schizophrenic subjects have impaired central inhibitory mechanisms as measured by PPI, and support the hypothesis that periods of relative clinical remission are not accompanied by normalization of sensorimotor gating.

Induction of rapid mood cycling during L-dopa treatment in a bipolar patient.

The authors report a longitudinal case study of a woman with a history of bipolar affective disorder in which L-dopa shortened the manic-depressive cycle length when administered in a double-blind trial. This finding suggests a dopaminergic mechanism specifically in changing the frequency of cycling between depression and mania.

The Shanghai 800: prevalence of tardive dyskinesia in a Chinese psychiatric hospital.

The authors found that 73 (8.4%) of 866 patients with chronic schizophrenia in the Shanghai Psychiatric Hospital who had been treated with neuroleptics had tardive dyskinesia. This low prevalence rate is possibly ascribable to the use of relatively low doses of neuroleptics.

Clinical and sensorimotor gating effects of ketamine in normals.

The clinical similarities between PCP psychosis and schizophrenia have contributed importantly to the development of the glutamate hypothesis of schizophrenia. Sensory gating, as measured by prepulse inhibition of the acoustic startle reflex (PPI), is impaired in patients with schizophrenia. In animals, the noncompetitive NMDA antagonists PCP and ketamine disrupt PPI in a way that resembles the defect seen in schizophrenia. The purpose of this work is to investigate the modulation of sensory gating in humans by subanaesthetic doses of ketamine. 16 healthy male subjects received a 60-min infusion of ketamine (0.5 mg/kg) or normal saline on two separate days in a randomized double-blind crossover design. Clinical ratings and PPI were done during the infusion on both days. Ketamine produced robust clinical effects. Dissociative symptoms as measured by the CADSS increased from 0 +/- 0.0 to 29.3 +/- 14.3; negative symptoms (Affect Rating Scale) increased from 17.2 +/- 0.8 to 24.8 +/- 3.1; and total BPRS scores increased from 18.3 +/- 0.8 to 26.4 +/- 5.1. ANOVAs for these ratings were all significant at the p <.000 level, although BPRS increases were not in the range seen in decompensated schizophrenic patients. The amplitudes of the startle responses to pulse-alone stimuli were not significantly different on ketamine and placebo days. Ketamine did not cause disruption in PPI as expected. On the contrary, in the first block of the PPI session ketamine significantly enhanced PPI (ANOVA; F=6.15, p =.026). These results indicate that the clinical effects of ketamine are not coupled with schizophrenic-like disruption of PPI in normal controls.

Localization and measurement of neurotransmitter receptors in rat and human brain by quantitative autoradiography.

Receptors for neurotransmitters can be visualized and characterized using in vitro tissue slice binding techniques and quantitative autoradiography. In this article, the general methods used in studies of this type are outlined and specific application to the study of catecholamine and neuropeptide receptors in rat and human brain tissue are described. Receptor autoradiography is used to examine regulation of dopamine receptor density in response to denervation and replacement of dopamine using brain transplants. Morphological and pharmacological aspects of vasopressin receptor ontogeny in the rat brain are examined. Finally, autoradiographic data on catecholamine receptor localization and characterization in the human hypothalamus, locus coeruleus, and frontal cortex are presented and discussed with reference to their applications in the study of neuropsychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia and senile dementia of the Alzheimer's type.

[Microscopic organization of epithelial endocrine cells of the gastrointestinal tract mucosa in lower vertebrates. I. Epithelial endocrine cells of the stomach of the common frog]. / Mikroskopicheskaia organizatsiia éndokrinnykh kletok épiteliia slizistoi obolochki zheludochno-kishechnogo trakta nizshikh pozvonochnykh. I. Endokrinnye kletki épiteliia zheludka travianoi liagushki.

The quantity, histotopography and submicroscopic organization of endocrine cells in various mucosal epithelium sections of frog were studied using light and electron microscopy. It is shown that the majority of endocrine cells per square millimetre is located in the proximal part of the stomach. Eight types of endocrine cells depending on the submicroscopic structure of secretory granules are defined.

[The structure and cytophysiology of the endocrinocytes of the gastric epithelium in a disordered food regimen]. / Stroenie i tsitofiziologiia éndokrinotsitov épiteliia zheludka pri narushenii pishchevogo rezhima.

By means of the light and electron microscopic methods the differentiation and the genesis of the epithelium endocrinocytes of the stomach mucous membrane were studied in the albino rats, fasted for 72-144 hours. The deprivation of food is followed by the increase of the number of endocrinocytes and by the change of their ultrastructure. The latter demonstrates the delay of the elimination of the secretory material in some cells (ECL, G, D, D1 cells) while the active functional condition was found in the others (ECL, A-like cells). Exo-endocrine cells with the EC or A-type granules are found in the epithelium, which is regarded as a mechanism aimed at the increase of the number of the appropriate (ECL or A-type of endocrinocytes, participating in the general metabolism of the organism.

[The endocrine apparatus of the epithelium of the gastric mucosa in the steppe turtle (Testudo horsfieldi)]. / Endokrinnyi apparat épiteliia slizistoi obolochki zheludka stepnoi cherepakhi.

Endocrinocytes of stomach mucosal epithelium were studied using light and electron microscopy in steppe turtle (Testudo horsfieldi). Endocrine apparatus of stomach in turtle was shown to retain the pattern characteristic for other representatives of vertebrates. Difference is observed in endocrinocytes localization. The latter are accumulated predominantly in upper and middle regions of glandulae, sometimes being encountered also in surface epithelium. 8 cell types were identified according to size and structure: EC, G, D, D1, A-like, X, ECL and P. Relating to glandular lumen, endocrinocytes are divided into elements of closed (D, D1, A-like, ECL, X, and P) and open types (EC, G). In the latter apico-basal differentiation is expressed in cytoplasmic structure. Endocrinocytes are unevenly distributed throughout the stomach regions. Greatest number is concentrated in pyloric part, EC-cells being the predominant type. EC, ECL-cells and less A-like and D-cells are mostly encountered in fundal part, EC, G and single D and P cells--in pyloric part and, agranular and exo-endocrine cells--in both stomach parts.

[Several indices of the methylation process in schizophrenic patients]. / Nekotorye pokazateli protsessa metilirovaniia u bol'nykh shizofreniei.

The paper deals with a study of 83 patients with different forms of schizophrenia and 15 normals where the methylating activity in converting nicotinamid into methylnicotinamid was determined and the activity of catechol-methyltransferase. In schizophrenic patients there is an increase of the methylating activity which significantly correlated with hallucinatory symptoms in the clinical picture. In patients with cataono-paranoid, paranoid syndromes and simple forms of schizophrenia the methylating activity is seen significantly less frequently. The disappearance of alleviation of hallucinations, due to neuroleptical drugs is accompanied by normalization of the methylating activity. Any significant differences in the excretion of isdarin as an index of cathechol-o-methyltransferase activity in normals and schizophrenic patients was not established.

[Müllerian adenosarcoma of the uterus]. / Miullerovskie adenosarkomy matki.

Histologic structure of Mueller's adenosarcoma has been studied in 5 patients subjected to uterine and its appendages extirpation. Microspectrophotometric assessment of the course of nuclear DNA accumulation, measurement of X-chromatin in two morphologic components of the tumor (epithelial and stromal) confirmed malignant morphological nature of the latter and benign one of the former. Basing on their experience with the 5 patients three of which died in the course of 5 years of relevant metastases, the authors believe the prognosis for uterine adenosarcoma to be poor.

[Catecholamine storage in schizophrenia]. / Deponirovanie katekholaminov pri shizofrenii.

After administration of isadrine excretion of noradrenaline was increased in schizophrenic patients with symptoms of depression or anxiety. This phenomenon was not observed in healthy persons and in patients with circular depression. Data on liberation of noradrenaline by other amines in schizophrenia and displacement of noradrenaline in schizophrenia by isadrine, which does not accumulate in normal storage sites, suggest that storage of noradrenaline is impaired in schizophrenia.

[The characteristics of alirin B1--the basic component of a fungicidal preparation produced by the Bacillus subtilis 10-VIZR strain]. / Kharakteristika alirina B1--osnovnogo komponenta fungitsidnogo preparata, produtsiruemogo shtammom Bacills subtilis 10-VIZR.

Alirin B1, the major active component of a fungicidal complex produced by Bacillus subtilis 10-VIZR was separated. Its physico-chemical and biological properties as well as the amino acid composition were investigated. Alirin B1 was shown to differ from the polypeptide substances described in the literature. The antibiotic was classified as belonging to the bacteriocins.

[A comparative evaluation of the efficacy of pylorus-destroying and pylorus-preserving operations with vagotomy in bleeding duodenal ulcers]. / Sravnitel'naia otsenka éffektivnosti pilorusrazrushaiushchikh i pilorussokhraniaiushchikh operatsii s vagotomiei pri krovotochashchikh duodenal'nykh iazvakh.

Results are analyzed of surgical treatment of 230 patients with duodenal ulcer complicated by bleeding, who underwent vagotomy and pylorus-nonsparing and pylorus-sparing operations. Of these, 110 patients were subjected to vagotomy involving pyloroplasty, 120 to selective proximal vagotomy with duodenoplasty. Results of postoperative 3- to 5-yr survival are analyzed. A method is suggested for treatment of postvagotomy syndromes.

[Substantiation and choice of pylorus preserving and pylorus destructive surgery with vagotomy in ulcer of the pyloroduodenal zone with hemorrhage]. / Obosnovanie i vybor pilorosokhraniaiushchei i pilororazrushaiushchei operatsii s vagotomiei po povodu iazvy piloroduodenal'noi zony s krovotecheniem.

The results of examination and surgical treatment of 230 patients with duodenal ulcer, complicated by haemorrhage, were analyzed. Vagotomy with pyloroplasty was conducted in 110 patients, vagotomy with duodenoplasty--in 120. The algorithm of operations conduction was elaborated, the results of treatment of patients in terms up to 5 years were estimated.

[Prophylaxis of acute postoperative pancreatitis in the course of treatment of the giant duodenal ulcer]. / Profilaktika ostrogo posleoperatsionnogo pankreatita pri lechenii gigantskoi iazvy dvenadtsatiperstnoi kishki.

The results of surgical treatment of 96 patients with giant duodenal ulcer, to whom selective proximal vagotomy (SPV), duodenoplasty (DP), vagotomy with pylorus destroying operation (PDO), gastric resection were performed, were analyzed. Prophylactic methods for an acute postoperative pancreatitis (APP) occurrence before, during and after the operation performance were elaborated. It was established, that the frequency of APP occurrence after SPV and DP is lower than after gastric resection and vagotomy with PDO.