Baclofen and catatonia: a case report.

Baclofen was approved for medical use in the United States in 1977 by Food and Drug Administration. Serious adverse effects associated with this medication are uncommon at usually prescribed doses. Herein, we present a case of baclofen-induced catatonia in a young-adult female with back pain receiving oral baclofen. A 20-year-old female presented to the emergency department with possible seizure-like activity. It was reported that the patient was suffering from acute back pain and was prescribed baclofen three times a day by her general physician one day before her presentation. Upon further discussion, it was known that following an altercation with her family member, she had attempted suicide by consuming 200 mg of baclofen and then developed rapidly progressive symptoms of aphasia, mutism, and decreased oral intake. Laboratory tests, cerebrospinal fluid analysis, and neuroimaging were unremarkable. Electroencephalogram was normal. Bush-Francis Catatonia Rating Scale score was 27. She showed significant improvement following low-dose lorazepam administration. There are four reports in the literature of catatonia secondary to baclofen. The present report is the first to describe the occurrence of catatonia in a previously healthy individual. Analysis of these cases suggests a relationship between a history of psychotic symptoms and catatonia. All the reports were classified as probable by the Naranjo algorithm.

Central dopamine D2 receptors regulate growth-hormone-dependent body growth and pheromone signaling to conspecific males.

Competition between adult males for limited resources such as food and receptive females is shaped by the male pattern of pituitary growth hormone (GH) secretion that determines body size and the production of urinary pheromones involved in male-to-male aggression. In the brain, dopamine (DA) provides incentive salience to stimuli that predict the availability of food and sexual partners. Although the importance of the GH axis and central DA neurotransmission in social dominance and fitness is clearly appreciated, the two systems have always been studied unconnectedly. Here we conducted a cell-specific genetic dissection study in conditional mutant mice that selectively lack DA D2 receptors (D2R) from pituitary lactotropes (lacDrd2KO) or neurons (neuroDrd2KO). Whereas lacDrd2KO mice developed a normal GH axis, neuroDrd2KO mice displayed fewer somatotropes; reduced hypothalamic Ghrh expression, pituitary GH content, and serum IGF-I levels; and exhibited reduced body size and weight. As a consequence of a GH axis deficit, neuroDrd2KO adult males excreted low levels of major urinary proteins and their urine failed to promote aggression and territorial behavior in control male challengers, in contrast to the urine taken from control adult males. These findings reveal that central D2Rs mediate a neuroendocrine-exocrine cascade that controls the maturation of the GH axis and downstream signals that are critical for fitness, social dominance, and competition between adult males.

Behavioral and biochemical effects of Xylazine: possible interactions between central noradrenergic-dopaminergic systems

Alguns efeitos comportamentais e bioquímicos da xilazina foram estudados em ratos e camundongos. Os resultados mostraram que a xilazina: a)diminuiu a atividade geral de ratos e camundongos observados em campo-aberto; b) foi incapaz de produzir catatonia e suprimiu este comportamento induzido pelo haloperidol em camundongos; c) potencializou o comportamento estereotipado induzido pela apomorfina em ratos; d) aumentou os nívei cerebrais de noradrenalina, porém näo alterou aqueles de dopamina. Estes resultados foram discutidos considerando-se açäo da xilazina em sistemas noradrenérgicos centrais e da interaçäo entre sistemas noradrenérgicos e dopaminérgicos centrais

Acute exposure to maneb alters some behavioral functions in the mouse.

Maneb, an organomanganese fungicide, is largely used in agricultural regions for control of field crop pathologies. Despite its apparent low toxicity, there are reports showing that maneb has harmful effects on peripheral and central nervous systems. In this work the effects of acute administration of maneb were studied on some experimental animal models. Male adult mice were treated with several doses of maneb, IP, and submitted to gross behavioral observation (200-1000 mg/kg) and measurement of locomotor activity, barbiturate-induced sleeping time, isolation-induced aggressiveness, catatonia, climbing behavior and of rota-rod performance (30, 60 and 100 mg/kg). The results showed that maneb has an inhibitory effect on locomotor activity and aggressiveness and increases barbiturate-induced sleeping time and haloperidol-induced catatonia. However, maneb did not affect the apomorphine-induced climbing behavior of animals. These data indicate that maneb has a CNS depressant-like effect, and suggest, at least partially, the involvement of dopaminergic systems in the mediation of this effect.