Intravenous doxapram administration as a potential model of panic attacks in rats.

Panic disorder can be categorized into the nonrespiratory or the respiratory subtypes, the latter comprising dyspnea, shortness of breath, chest pain, feelings of suffocation, and paresthesias. Doxapram is an analeptic capable of inducing panic attacks with respiratory symptoms in individuals diagnosed with the disorder; however, its neuroanatomical targets and its effects on experimental animals remain uncharacterized. One of the brain regions proposed to trigger panic attacks is the midbrain periaqueductal gray (PAG). Therefore, in this study, we evaluated the effects of doxapram in Fos (c-Fos) protein expression in the PAG and characterized its cardiorespiratory and behavioral effects on the elevated T maze and in the conditioned place aversion (CPA) paradigms. Doxapram increased Fos expression in different columns of the PAG, increased respiratory frequency, decreased heart rate, and increased arterial pressure when injected via intravenous route. Alprazolam, a panicolytic benzodiazepine, injected via intraperitoneal route, decreased respiratory frequency, whereas URB597, an anandamide hydrolysis inhibitor injected via intraperitoneal route, was ineffective. Doxapram injected via intraperitoneal route induced an anxiogenic-like effect in the elevated T-maze model; however, it failed to induce CPA. This study suggests that the cardiorespiratory and behavioral effects of doxapram in rodents serve as an experimental model that can provide insights into the neurobiology of panic attacks.

High Cholesterol Diet Exacerbates Blood-Brain Barrier Disruption in LDLr-/- Mice: Impact on Cognitive Function.

BACKGROUND: Evidence has revealed an association between familial hypercholesterolemia and cognitive impairment. In this regard, a connection between cognitive deficits and hippocampal blood-brain barrier (BBB) breakdown was found in low-density lipoprotein receptor knockout mice (LDLr-/-), a mouse model of familial hypercholesterolemia. OBJECTIVE: Herein we investigated the impact of a hypercholesterolemic diet on cognition and BBB function in C57BL/6 wild-type and LDLr-/-mice. METHODS: Animals were fed with normal or high cholesterol diets for 30 days. Thus, wild-type and LDLr-/-mice were submitted to memory paradigms. Additionally, BBB integrity was evaluated in the mice's prefrontal cortices and hippocampi. RESULTS: A tenfold elevation in plasma cholesterol levels of LDLr-/-mice was observed after a hypercholesterolemic diet, while in wild-type mice, the hypercholesterolemic diet exposure increased plasma cholesterol levels only moderately and did not induce cognitive impairment. LDLr-/-mice presented memory impairment regardless of the diet. We observed BBB disruption as an increased permeability to sodium fluorescein in the prefrontal cortices and hippocampi and a decrease on hippocampal claudin-5 and occludin mRNA levels in both wild-type and LDLr-/-mice treated with a hypercholesterolemic diet. The LDLr-/-mice fed with a regular diet already presented BBB dysfunction. The BBB-increased leakage in the hippocampi of LDLr-/-mice was related to high microvessel content and intense astrogliosis, which did not occur in the control mice. CONCLUSION: Therefore, LDLr-/-mice seem to be more susceptible to cognitive impairments and BBB damage induced by exposure to a high cholesterol diet. Finally, BBB disruption appears to be a relevant event in hypercholesterolemia-induced brain alterations.

The roles of cannabinoid CB1 and CB2 receptors in cocaine-induced behavioral sensitization and conditioned place preference in mice.

RATIONALE: Cocaine is a psychostimulant drug that facilitates monoaminergic neurotransmission. The endocannabinoid system, comprising the cannabinoid receptors (CB1R and CB2R), the endocannabinoids, and their metabolizing-enzymes, modulates the mesolimbic dopaminergic pathway and represents a potential target for the treatment of addiction. OBJECTIVES: Here, we tested the hypothesis that the cannabinoid receptors are implicated in cocaine-induced motor sensitization, conditioned place preference (CPP), and hippocampal activation. METHODS: Male Swiss mice received injections of AM251 (CB1R antagonist; 0.3-10 mg/kg) or JWH133 (CB2R agonist; 1-10 mg/kg) before acquisition or expression of cocaine (20 mg/kg)-induced sensitization and CPP. After the CPP test, cFos-staining was employed as a marker of neuronal activation in the hippocampus. RESULTS: AM251 inhibited the acquisition (0.3, 1, and 3 mg/kg) and expression (1 and 3 mg/kg) of sensitization, as well as the acquisition (10 mg/kg) of CPP. JWH133 inhibited the acquisition (0.3 and 1 mg/kg) and expression (1 and 3 mg/kg) of both sensitization and CPP. JWH133 effects were reversed by AM630 (CB2R antagonist; 5 mg/kg). AM251 and JWH133 also prevented neuronal activation (c-Fos expression) in the hippocampus of CPP-exposed animals. CONCLUSIONS: CB1R and CB2R have opposite roles in modulating cocaine-induced sensitization and CPP, possibly by preventing neuronal activation in the hippocampus.