Motor depression and head twitches induced by IP injection of GABA.

Influence of GABA onlocomotor activity and gross behavior of mice, rats, and rabbits was studied. In mice and rats, IP GABA injection produced decreased locomotor activity, but in rats and rabbits head twitches and disturbances in body balance were seen. GABA-induced head twitches were inhibited by picrotoxin, clonidine, morphine, or cyproheptadine. Our results suggest a serotonergic component in GABA-induced head twitches, but it is not the only mechanism involved in this behavior.

Inhibition of "wet shakes" during morphine abstinence by an antagonist of opiate analgesia.

An antagonist of morphine analgesia, N-cyclopropylmethylnorazidomorphine (CAM) inhibited the"wet shakes" appearing during spontaneous or nalorphine-precipitated morphine abstinence. CAM inhibited the pinna reflex more strongly than did morphine and selectively antagonized quipazine-induced head twitches; its inhibition of head twitches induced by 5-hydroxytryptophan or LSD seemed unspecific. The results suggest that the opiate receptors involved in the inhibition of some symptoms of morphine abstinence and of the pinna reflex differ from those involved in opiate analgesia.

Facilitation by alpha-adrenolytics of apomorphine gnawing behavior: depression of threshold apomorphine concentration in the striatum of the rat.

Adrenolytics, aceperone and phenoxybenzamine, increased significantly the incidence of gnawing induced in the rat by a medium dose of apomorphine. The experiments in which the rats were killed at the onset of stereotyped gnawing to assess the threshold concentration of apomorphine in the striatum necessary to evoke this type of behavior have shown that these threshold concentrations were significantly reduced. It is concluded that the facilitation by adrenolytics of gnawing response to apomorphine is caused by an increase in the sensitivity of structures involved in this phenomenon to this dopaminergic stimulant.

Inflammatory bowel disease and self-esteem in adolescence.

AIM: To compare the self-esteem of adolescents suffering from inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) with that of healthy adolescents, and to identify factors affecting self-esteem in the presence of IBD. METHODS: A self-assessment questionnaire, 'I think I am' (ITIA), was completed by 71 (41 boys) out of 77 adolescents (10-16 years) with IBD. Of the participating adolescents, 23 had Crohn's disease, 44 had ulcerative colitis and 4 had indeterminate colitis. The self-esteem of adolescents with IBD was compared with that of 1037 school children. RESULTS: In this population-based study, children with IBD estimated their self-esteem in the same range as healthy adolescents. Using a multiple regression analysis, the self-esteem of adolescents with IBD was related to disease course severity and cohabitation status of parents. Children with severe disease and children of single parents were found to be most at risk of low self-esteem. CONCLUSION: This study shows that, as a group, adolescents with IBD have self-esteem in the same range as their healthy peers, but that there are some adolescents with IBD who are at risk of low self-esteem. Special attention should be given to adolescents with a severe disease course and to those with separated parents.

Emotional and behavioural problems in Swedish 7- to 9-year olds with asthma.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study is to compare emotional and behavioural problems between preadolescent children with asthma and healthy children, and to explore if disease factors relate to problem scores. DESIGN: This was a cross-sectional study of 59 children, 34 boys and 25 girls, aged 7-9 years with mild (n = 11), moderate (n = 38) or severe (n = 10) asthma. A normative sample of 306 children in the same age range, 150 boys and 156 girls, was used as a comparison group. METHODS: Parents assessed emotional and behavioural problems using the Child Behaviour Checklist. Peak expiratory flow rate and urinary eosinophil protein X were used as measures of lung function and inflammation. Children were interviewed about activity restriction and symptoms during the last week using the Paediatric Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire. Parents scored day, night and exercise-induced symptoms during the same week. RESULTS: On average, children with asthma were attributed more problems than healthy children of the same age and comparable family socio-economic status. Effect sizes were 0.80 (95% confidence interval 0.52-1.09) for total problems, 0.89 (0.60-1.18) for internalizing problems and 0.67 (0.38-0.95) for externalizing problems. The relative risk for children with asthma exceeding the 95% cut-offpoint for total problems was 4.2 (2.1-8.3) compared to healthy children. CONCLUSION: Children with parent-reported exercise-induced asthma symptoms were attributed more total problems than asthmatic children without such symptoms. Parent-reported day symptoms and child report of symptoms and restricted activities related with problem scores to a lesser degree. Objective measures of lung function and inflammation were not related to problem scores. Concurrent eczema increased problem scores. It is concluded that asthma in preadolescent children is associated with emotional and behavioural problems. Special attention should be paid to children reported to have exercise-induced symptoms.

Head twitches produced by serotonergic drugs and opiates after lesion of the mesostriatal serotonergic system of the rat.

Electrolytical lesions of the dorsal raphe nucleus in the rat did not change frequency of head twitches produced by codeine and apocodeine. The action of serotonergic drugs was affected differently: the lesion depressed the frequency of head twitch episodes produced by 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP), LSD and quipazine, but did not change the frequency of head twitches produced by 5-methoxytryptamine. On the other hand, the lesions protected against high mortality produced by combined treatment with tranylcypromine and 5-methoxytryptamine. There was a good correlation between the extent of lesion, measured by the depression of the level of prosencephalic serotonin, and the depression of head twitch frequency produced by 5-hydroxytryptophan and quipazine, while the correlation was not significant for the action of LSD. It is concluded that presynaptic serotonergic structures belonging to the mesostriatal serotonergic system are necessary for appearing of head twitches after treatment with 5-HTP, LSD and quipazine, and therefore these compounds have a presynaptic action in this test.

The Paediatric Asthma Caregiver's Quality of Life Questionnaire in Swedish parents.

With the Paediatric Asthma Caregiver's Quality of Life Questionnaire (PACQLQ), parents grade impaired activities (5 items) and emotional concern (8 items) from 1 to 7 regarding how much their own quality of life (QoL) has been affected by the disease of their child during the last week. The questionnaire was translated into Swedish. To test the feasibility and validity of the Swedish version, 71 asthmatic children and their families were approached. Sixty-one families (86%) participated. The mean age of the children was 8.7 y. Parental grading of symptoms (Spearman's rho = 0.637, p < 0.001), the asthma-specific QoL of the child (rho = 0.359, p = 0.002) and gradings of asthma from medical records (mild asthma median score 6.69, moderate 6.27 and severe 5.12, p = 0.001) were all related to overall PACQLQ scores. The sex of the child, the presence of other diseases related to allergy, peak flow rate (PEFR) and socio-economic level did not affect the scores. Lower scores in the emotional domain were seen in parents of children on steroids (p = 0.049). The distribution of scores was heavily skewed towards the positive end of the scale, leading to limited power to discriminate among parents of children with mild asthma. The instrument had good internal consistency and was well accepted by the parents.

Quality of life in childhood asthma: use of the Paediatric Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire in a Swedish sample of children 7 to 9 years old.

To validate a Swedish translation of the Paediatric Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire (PAQLQ) and to study determinants of asthmatic children's quality of life, seventy-one 7-9-y-old children and their families were approached. Sixty-one children (86%) participated, 36 boys and 25 girls: 11 children with mild, 40 with moderate and 10 with severe asthma. The mean age was 8.7 y. Most commonly restricted activities during the week preceding the investigation were running (74%), gymnastics (30%), walking uphill (26%), playing football (20%) and shouting (13%). Parental rating of symptoms (Spearman's rho = -0.40, p = 0.001), percentage of expected peak flow rate (PEFR) (rho = 0.30, p = 0.009) and physicians' grading (mild, moderate and severe asthma, p = 0.047) all correlated significantly with PAQLQ scores. Younger children reported more impairment of QoL, as did children of parents not sharing household. Sex or presence of eczema or rhinoconjunctivitis did not significantly affect the scores. Children suffering from food allergy scored less impairment of QoL. The instrument was easy to administer, was well accepted by the children and had acceptable internal consistency.

Behavioral and biochemical effects of intraventricular kainic acid.

Wistar rats received intraventricularly solutions of kainic acid (KA) and behavioral symptoms and changes in the brain concentrations of biogenic amines and 5-hydroxy-indole-acetic acid (5-HIAA) following the injection were observed. KA produced a characteristic behavioral syndrome dominated by episodes of "wet dog shakes" (WDS), which were most frequent after doses of 0.25-1.5 nmole, 10-25 min after the injection. Multiple injections of KA produced only negligible inhibition of the response in initial experiments, and the effect was significantly below the control level on the 6th consecutive treatment. WDS were more frequent in rats which had undergone central chemosympathectomy with 6-hydroxydopamine. Serotoninolytics did not inhibit WDS; the shakes were strongly inhibited by pretreatment with compounds inhibiting the transmission in the noradrenergic neurons, clonidine and aceperone, by a neuroleptic, spiperone, and by opiates stimulating the opiate receptor; morphine, azidomorphine and N-cyclopropylmethylnorazido-morphine, but not by an opiate receptor antagonist, naloxone. KA depressed the cerebral level of norarenaline 35 min after the administration, byt 6 days after a single injection the brain levels of noradernaline and 5-HIAA were elevated. It i suggested that the catecholaminergic systems and opiate receptors play an important role in the syndrome observed, and that the syndrome resembles the syndrome of morphine abstinence.

Influence of naloxone on the antinociceptive effects of some antidepressant drugs.

The antinociceptive effects of tricyclic and atypical antidepressants were studied using the rat tail mechanical method. Clomipramine produced analgesia at the doses of 30 and 40 mg/kg, desimipramine at 10, 20 and 40 mg/kg, maprotiline at 20 and 30 mg/kg, mianserin at 30 mg/kg, nomifensine at 1, 2.5 and 5 mg/kg, indalpine at 10, 20 and 40 mg/kg, viloxazine at 60 and 80 mg/kg. Naloxone (0.8 mg/kg) abolished the antinociceptive action of these antidepressant drugs. These results suggest that the antinociceptive activity of these six antidepressant drugs in acute experimental pain could involve opiate mechanisms.

Short- and long-term effects of intraventricular 6-hydroxydopamine in rats pretreated with a monoamine oxidase inhibitor.

Bilateral intraventricular injections of high dose (2 X 250 microgram) of 6-hydroxydopamine to rats pretreated with nialamide produced a pronounced hyperactivity persisting for several hours and induced permanent aggressiveness. Only 50% rat survived the treatment for longer than a week, the explorative activity of the survivors was inhibited for over 2 months. The brain catecholamine content was depressed for at least 15 months, while no long-term changes of serotonin level were observed. The hyperactivity, aggressiveness and hypothermia produced by apomorphine were enhanced in centrally chemosympathectomized rats, while the hyperactivity produced by D-amphetamine or amantadine remained inaffected. The results confirm the development of dopamine receptor supersensitivity following central chemosympathectomy, and indicate a possibility of employing the supersensitivity model for distinguishing between pre- and postsynaptic action of dopaminergic stimulants.