Differences between the tactile sensitivity on the anterior torso of normal individuals and those having suffered complete transection of the spinal cord.

Using the method of limits and a magnitude estimation procedure, the sense of touch was examined at multiple sites on the anterior torso of normal subjects. Their performance was compared with the performance of individuals having experienced a functionally complete spinal cord transection more than 6 months prior to the tests. Near the insentient regions of the spinal cord-injured patients there was a zone wherein the threshold for light touch was elevated and variable. Within this same transition zone, estimates of the magnitude of a brushing stimulus increased as a linear function of distance from the border for approximately 12 cm away from insentient skin. Throughout the rest of the thorax, spinal cord-injured patients displayed touch thresholds 67% higher than normals and, at the same test sites, spinal cord-injured patients offered estimates of the intensity of the brushing stimulus that averaged 62% higher than normal subjects. The greater intensity of the sensations experienced by spinal cord-injured patients with even very weak stimuli and the smaller range within which they were able to scale stimulus intensity, produced a situation wherein the patients made frequent errors of judgement even on skin regions far from the body parts affected by the lesion. These observations support the hypothesis that spinal cord lesions interrupt tonic modulatory mechanisms having global influences on the sense of touch. This loss produces an elevation of the touch threshold and a reduction of the normal dynamic range of tactile sensory perception for all skin surfaces on the anterior torso.

[Preclinical pharmacology of amoxapine and amitriptyline. Implications of serotoninergic and opiodergic systems in their central effect in rats]. / Pharmacologie préclinique de l'amoxapine et de l'amitriptyline. Implications des systèmes sérotoninergiques et opioïdergiques dans leurs effets centraux chez le rat.

The effects of two antidepressant drugs, amoxapine and amitriptyline, that belong to distinct chemical classes, have been examined on various biochemical parameters related to serotoninergic and opioidergic neurotransmission in the rat brain and spinal cord. In vitro binding studies showed that both amoxapine and amitriptyline interact in the nanomolar range with 5-HT2 receptors labelled by [3H]ketanserin in cortical membranes. By contrast, neither amoxapine nor amitriptyline can be considered as possible ligands of 5-HT1A and 5-HT1B receptors because their affinities for these sites are in the micromolar range (or even worse). Interestingly, amoxapine binds with a good affinity (IC50 = 0.30 microM) to 5-HT3 receptors labelled by [3H]zacopride in cortical membranes. Complementary experiments using the 5-HT3-dependent Bezold-Jarisch reflex confirmed that amoxapine really acts in vivo as a 5-HT3 antagonist (IC50 = 50 micrograms/kg i.v.), whereas amitriptyline is essentially inactive on 5-HT3 receptors. The second part of this study consisted of looking for possible changes in central 5-HT receptors 24 h after either a single or a repeated (for 14 days) treatment with amoxapine (10 mg/kg i.p. each day) or amitriptyline (10 mg/kg i.p.). A marked decrease in the density of 5-HT2 receptors was found in the cerebral cortex in both treatment groups. By contrast, neither 5-HT1A nor 5-HT1B receptors were significantly affected in any brain region studied. Finally we explored whether acute and/or chronic administration of amoxapine or amitriptyline affected the levels of opioid peptides and the mu and delta classes of opioid receptors in various regions of the brain and the spinal cord.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Effects of postnatal microwave exposure on thyrotropin level in the adult male rat.

Postnatal exposure of male rats to microwaves modulated the evolution of the thyrotropin level. Indeed, this treatment increased plasma TSH without affecting significantly plasma thyroxine. Moreover, the histological study of the thyroid demonstrated a high activity of this gland in irradiated animals. The modification observed in the thyrotropin level was correlated to an increase in hypothalamic noradrenaline described previously in rats submitted to the same irradiation.