ABSTRACT
Cefmatilen hydrochloride hydrate (S-1090) was orally administered to rats at dose levels of 100, 300 and 1000 mg potency/kg once daily for 6 months. All the S-1090 treated groups showed soft feces, reddish-brown feces (due to chelated products of S-1090 or its decomposition products with Fe3+ in the diet), abdominal distention, increased food and water consumption, lower urine pH, and a decrease of white blood cells counts (except for males of the 100 mg potency/kg group). One male in the 300 mg potency/kg group showed mucous feces and marked decrease in body weight, and diet in the middle stage of the administration period. In necropsy of the survivors of all treated groups, marked cecal enlargement was noted. No remarkable changes were observed in the other examination items. From the early stage of the withdrawal period, animals in the 1000 mg potency/kg group showed again soft or mucous feces and a marked decrease in body weight. Of these animals, one male died and another male was sacrificed in a moribund state at about 2 weeks of the withdrawal period. Enterocolitis was observed in these cases. Almost all animals recovered within 3 weeks of withdrawal. A supplemental study of the 6-month toxicity study was conducted to examine the mechanisms of enterocolitis and the changes observable in the 100 or 300 mg potency/kg groups after drug withdrawal. As a reference, cefdinir (CFDN), an oral cephem antibiotic the same as S-1090, was added in the 1000 mg potency/kg group. No deaths occurred in any groups. Decreased intestinal flora were noted in all the groups treated with S-1090 or CFDN at the end of the dosing period. At 2 weeks of the withdrawal period, C. difficile and its D-1 toxin in the cecal contents were highly detected in the S-1090 300 and 1000 mg potency/kg groups and CFDN group. Inflammatory changes in the cecum and colon were observed in these groups. At 4 weeks of the withdrawal period, intestinal flora in the S-1090 groups almost returned to the condition before dosing, but those in the CFDN group were retained highly. Cecal D-1 toxin in the CFDN group was positive and higher than in the S-1090 groups. It was thus considered that the critical condition with enterocolitis resulted from C. difficile, which proliferated more rapidly than the other bacteria and D-1 toxin produced by this bacteria in the withdrawal period. Above changes were commonly observed in the CFDN group. The NOAEL of S-1090 was assessed to be 100 mg potency/kg/day which induced no enteritis.
Subject(s)
Cephalosporins/toxicity , Administration, Oral , Animals , Anti-Bacterial Agents/toxicity , Blood Cells/drug effects , Blood Chemical Analysis , Body Weight/drug effects , Bone Marrow Cells/cytology , Cefdinir , Clostridioides difficile/drug effects , Drinking/drug effects , Drug Administration Schedule , Eating/drug effects , Enterobacteriaceae/drug effects , Female , Hearing/drug effects , Intestines/microbiology , Liver/chemistry , Male , Occult Blood , Organ Size/drug effects , Rats , Streptococcus/drug effects , UrinalysisABSTRACT
The induction of interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta) mRNA in the rat brain following subcutaneous injection of formalin into the hind paws was investigated by in situ hydridization. IL-1 beta mRNA was markedly induced in the hypothalamus after the injection of formalin into both hind paws. On the other hand, IL-1 beta mRNA was scarcely observed in the hypothalamus of saline-injected control rats. The type of cells expressing IL-1 beta mRNA was likely glia because their nuclei were densely stained by Cresyl violet and were relatively small. The present results suggest that IL-1 beta mRNA is induced in the glial cells of the hypothalamus by persistent pain which is caused by formalin injection.
Subject(s)
Formaldehyde/pharmacology , Hindlimb/drug effects , Hypothalamus/drug effects , Interleukin-1/metabolism , RNA, Messenger/metabolism , Animals , In Situ Hybridization , Male , Rats , Rats, Sprague-DawleyABSTRACT
Expression of interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta) mRNA in the rat brain after transient forebrain ischemia was investigated by in situ hybridization histochemistry. Thirty min after the start of recirculation, IL-1 beta mRNA was induced in the several brain regions, including the olfactory bulb, cerebral cortex, hippocampus, striatum and thalamus where neuronal degeneration was reported to be observed after transient forebrain ischemia. The hybridization signals were observed both on the glial cells and around the vascular walls.
Subject(s)
Brain/metabolism , Gene Expression , Interleukin-1/biosynthesis , Ischemic Attack, Transient/metabolism , Neurons/metabolism , RNA, Messenger/biosynthesis , Animals , Brain/pathology , Cerebral Cortex/metabolism , Cerebrovascular Circulation , Corpus Striatum/metabolism , Diencephalon/metabolism , Hippocampus/metabolism , In Situ Hybridization , Male , Nerve Degeneration , Neuroglia/metabolism , Neurons/pathology , Olfactory Bulb/metabolism , Organ Specificity , RNA Probes , RNA, Messenger/analysis , Rats , Rats, Wistar , Telencephalon/metabolism , Thalamus/metabolismABSTRACT
We cloned a cDNA for the rat mu-opioid receptor from a rat thalamus cDNA library. The deduced amino-acid sequence of rat mu-opioid receptor consists of 398 residues with the features shared by the members of the G-protein coupled receptor family, and is 59% and 60% identical with those of rat kappa-opioid and mouse delta-opioid receptors, respectively. Northern blot analysis showed that expression of mu-opioid receptor mRNA was intensive in the thalamus, striatum, hypothalamus and pons-medulla, moderate in the hippocampus and midbrain, and slight in the cerebral cortex and cerebellum. More detailed distribution of the mRNA in the rat brain was examined using the in situ hybridization technique. Intense expression of mu-opioid receptor mRNA was observed in the internal granular and glomerular layers of the olfactory bulb, caudate putamen, nucleus accumbens, medial septum, diagonal band, medial preoptic area, several nuclei of thalamus, amygdala, interpeduncular nucleus, medial raphe nucleus, inferior colliculus, parabrachial nucleus, locus coeruleus, nucleus solitary tract and ambiguus nucleus. Furthermore, mu-opioid receptor mRNA was moderately expressed in the hippocampus, globus pallidus, ventral pallidus, arcuate hypothalamic nucleus, supramammillary nucleus, superior colliculus, periacqueductal gray, and several nuclei of lower brain stem, including raphe magnus nucleus, reticular gigantocellular nucleus and lateral paragigantocellular nucleus.
Subject(s)
Receptors, Opioid, mu/chemistry , Animals , Autoradiography , Blotting, Northern , Brain/anatomy & histology , Brain Chemistry/physiology , Cloning, Molecular , Histocytochemistry , In Situ Hybridization , Male , RNA, Messenger/biosynthesis , Rats , Rats, Sprague-Dawley , Thalamus/metabolismABSTRACT
Methamphetamine (2-15 mg/kg, i.p.) has been shown to induce interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta) mRNA in the rat hypothalamus. The induction of IL-1 beta mRNA was blocked by intraperitoneal pretreatment with beta-blockers propranolol (0.1-1 mg/kg, but not 0.01 mg/kg) and pindolol (0.3 and 1 mg/kg). Prazosin (1 and 5 mg/kg) and yohimbine (1 and 5 mg/kg), alpha-blockers and haloperidol (1 mg/kg), a dopamine antagonist, produced partial and little suppression, respectively. When injected intracerebroventricularly (i.c.v.), propranolol, but neither prazosin nor yohimbine, significantly suppressed the methamphetamine-induced expression of IL-1 beta mRNA at a dose of 1 nmol/rat. An i.c.v. injection of the beta-adrenoceptor agonist isoproterenol (1 and 3 micrograms/rat) dose-dependently increased the hypothalamic level of IL-1 beta mRNA. The present results suggest that the induction of hypothalamic IL-1 beta mRNA by methamphetamine is mediated by beta-adrenoceptors in the brain.
Subject(s)
Hypothalamus/metabolism , Interleukin-1/biosynthesis , Methamphetamine/pharmacology , RNA, Messenger/biosynthesis , Receptors, Adrenergic, beta/metabolism , Adrenergic alpha-Antagonists/pharmacology , Adrenergic beta-Agonists/pharmacology , Adrenergic beta-Antagonists/pharmacology , Animals , Blotting, Northern , Catecholamines/antagonists & inhibitors , Dopamine/physiology , Hypothalamus/drug effects , In Vitro Techniques , Injections, Intraventricular , Isoproterenol/pharmacology , Male , Rats , Rats, Inbred Strains , Receptors, Adrenergic, beta/drug effectsABSTRACT
Preliminary screening for antiviral AIDS drugs has been carried out, using three different in vitro assay systems. Among 105 samples tested, 13 were found to inhibit the growth of HIV in vitro. Eleven of 13 were well-known anti-HIV chemicals, while the remaining two of plant origin were new chemicals whose anti-HIV activities have not been reported elsewhere.