Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0036341 (schizophrenia)
60,220 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Prior exposure to the psychotomimetic drug phencyclidine (PCP) produces a number of schizophrenia-like behaviors in animals. The goal of the present study was to determine whether prior exposure to PCP produces decreased reward function, thereby modeling one aspect of negative schizophrenic symptomatology. To this aim, the consequences of prior exposure to PCP were assessed on two types of appetitive consumptive behavior. In the first set of experiments, the effects of PCP (15 mg/kg, 20 h before testing) on sucrose consumption were tested for three consecutive days under conditions of deprivation and nondeprivation. In the deprivation condition, animals were water deprived for 4 h prior to injection of PCP or saline (SAL). Twenty hours following the injection (24 h after the onset of water deprivation), animals were allowed access to either 5% sucrose or water for 30 min. In the nondeprivation condition, 5% sucrose consumption was measured for 30 min, 20 h after PCP or SAL injection and water consumption was measured during the 23.5 h preceding sucrose consumption. PCP decreased both sucrose and water consumption under deprivation conditions on the second and third day of testing but selectively decreased sucrose consumption under nondeprivation conditions on all three testing days. LiCl (50 mg/kg, 20 h before testing) did not significantly reduce sucrose consumption in the nondeprivation paradigm, indicating that the effect of PCP was not due to conditioned taste aversion. In the second experiment, PCP (15 mg/kg, 20 h before testing) decreased operant performance when animals were switched from a continuous reinforcement schedule of food delivery to a fixed ratio (FR4) schedule. Apomorphine (APO, 30 microg/kg, 30 min before testing), a positive control, induced a similar performance deficit. However, the PCP-induced deficit was not apparent until the third day of FR4 testing while the APO deficit was apparent on the first day. The effects of PCP on sucrose consumption demonstrate PCP-induced decreases in reward function. However, the delayed appearance of the PCP-induced decrease in operant performance suggests that these results may be better explained by a PCP-induced attentional deficit, also characteristic of schizophrenic psychopathology.
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PMID:Prior exposure to phencyclidine decreases voluntary sucrose consumption and operant performance for food reward. 1464 37

Neurodevelopmental models of schizophrenia posit that early brain damage leads to dys- or misconnection effects possibly altering synaptic transmission in brain sites distal of the lesion. We tested the hypothesis that neonatal medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) lesions affect the sensitivity of the mesoaccumbal dopamine (DA) system. Using extracellular single-unit recordings combined with systemic application of the DA agonist apomorphine, followed by the D2 receptor antagonist haloperidol or the D1 receptor antagonist SCH23390, we compared electrophysiological properties of nucleus accumbens core and shell neurons after bilateral excitotoxic lesions of mPFC induced at postnatal day 7 or in adult rats. Whereas animals with adult mPFC lesions showed an altered discharge pattern within the core region, neonatal mPFC lesions altered the discharge pattern within the shell region. Subcutaneous administration of apomorphine (4 mg/kg) reduced accumbal firing rate in 77% of all neurons. Onset and magnitude of apomorphine-induced inhibition of neuronal activity was faster and stronger in rats with neonatal but not adult mPFC lesions in both core and shell regions. Apomorphine-induced inhibition was partially reversed by 0.1 mg/kg haloperidol only in core region of neonatal lesioned rats. Apomorphine-induced excitation of neuronal activity (in 21% of all neurons) was reversed by the D1 receptor antagonist SCH23390 (0.1 mg/kg) in all excited neurons. These data support the hypothesis that neonatal but not adult lesions of mPFC alter cortico-striatal networks and suggest that disturbance of mPFC development leads to neurodevelopmental changes in mesoaccumbal DA system during adulthood.
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PMID:Neonatal medial prefrontal cortex lesion enhances the sensitivity of the mesoaccumbal dopamine system. 1521 84

Sensorimotor gating, measured by prepulse inhibition (PPI) of the startle reflex, is reduced in schizophrenia patients and in rats treated with dopamine (DA) agonists. Strain and substrain differences in the sensitivity to the PPI-disruptive effects of DA agonists may provide insight into the basis for human population differences in sensorimotor gating. We have reported greater sensitivity to the PPI disruptive effects of the D(1)/D(2) agonist apomorphine in Harlan Sprague-Dawley (SDH) versus Long Evans (LEH) rats. In the present study, we assessed the generational pattern of this phenotypic difference across parental SDH and LEH strains under in- and cross-fostering conditions, offspring (F1) of an SDHxLEH cross, and subsequent offspring (N2) of an SDHxF1 cross. Apomorphine sensitivity followed a gradient across generations that suggested relatively simple additive effects of multiple genes. Cross fostering studies confirmed that SDH>LEH apomorphine sensitivity did not reflect post-natal maternal influences. Generational patterns of PPI apomorphine sensitivity were not associated with albino versus hooded phenotypes per se, but apomorphine sensitivity in hooded N2 rats was strongly related to body surface area of fur pigmentation. The association between pigmentation and PPI apomorphine sensitivity may provide an important clue to specific biochemical and genetic substrates responsible for population differences in the regulation of sensorimotor gating.
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PMID:Heritable differences in the dopaminergic regulation of sensorimotor gating. I. Apomorphine effects on startle gating in albino and hooded outbred rat strains and their F1 and N2 progeny. 1530 Mar 58

Sympathetic neural outflow to thermoregulatory cutaneous vascular beds is selectively activated when the individual is aroused, so that cutaneous blood flow is characterized by sudden alerting-related falls to near zero levels ("SCVARs", sympathetic cutaneous vasomotor alerting responses). Our previous work shows that clozapine, an atypical antipsychotic drug used in schizophrenia, profoundly inhibits SCVARs. Clozapine, conventionally assumed to have a dopamine D(2) receptor antagonist action, also increases baseline cutaneous blood flow and lowers body temperature. However dopamine D(2) receptor agonists lower temperature, suggesting that a dopamine D(2)agonist action might also reduce SCVARs. The present study determined whether a dopamine D(2)agonist action contributes to clozapine's SCVAR-inhibiting effect. SCVARs were measured in conscious rats with a Doppler ultrasonic flow probe chronically implanted around the base of the artery, with probe wires passing subcutaneously to a headpiece. Doppler signals were monitored via a flexible connection between the headpiece and a swivel device in the roof of the cage. Apomorphine (0.1-0.5 mg/kg), quinpirole (0.05-0.25 mg/kg) and 7-OH-DPAT (0.02-0.5 mg/kg) dose-dependently reduced SCVARs. Pre-treatment with the dopamine receptor antagonist spiperone (20 microg/kg) but not the D(1) antagonist SCH-23390 or the peripheral dopamine D(2) antagonist domperidone, abolished this effect. Spiperone pre-treatment reduced the SCVAR-inhibiting action of clozapine (0.06-1.0 mg/kg). Chlorpromazine (0.1-10 mg/kg) also dose-dependently inhibited SCVARs, but this effect was not reduced by pre-treatment with spiperone. Mechanisms underlying clozapine's SCVAR-inhibiting effect include dopamine D(2) receptor agonism, not dopamine D(2) receptor antagonism, calling into question the mechanism of the drug's therapeutic action in schizophrenia.
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PMID:Activation of dopamine D2 receptors in the CNS inhibits sympathetic cutaneous vasomotor alerting responses (SCVARs), contributing to clozapine's SCVAR-inhibiting action. 1705 39

Schizophrenia may reflect a sensitization of dopaminergic (DA) function. Apomorphine (Apo), a DA receptor agonist, induces both sensitization and tolerance of DA function in rodents depending on dose intervals. We investigated sensitization and tolerance to Apo in healthy male volunteers. After a period of acclimatization to the experimental setting (Day 1) subjects were assigned randomly to two groups: Group A subjects received seven injections of placebo (physiological saline) (PLA) and Group B subjects received seven injections of Apo HCl (7 microg/kg sc) under double-blind conditions at 2 h intervals commencing at 0930 hours (Day 2) after an overnight fast. Twelve hours after the seventh injection, i.e. on Day 3, after an overnight fast all subjects received an injection of Apo. Serial samples of blood commencing at 0900 hours were drawn after the first and last injection in both groups for assay of growth hormone (GH), prolactin (PRL) and cortisol by radioimmunoassay; sleepiness was measured using the Analog Sleepiness Rating Scale and yawning recorded by video recorder. The GH response in Group B (N = 8) was (a) decreased after the eighth injection of Apo compared with the first injection of Apo (P = 0.03) and (b) decreased after the eighth injection of Apo compared with the first injection of Apo in Group A (N = 10) (P = 0.001). The number of yawns in Group B was significantly decreased after the eighth injection of Apo compared with the first injection of Apo (P = 0.042). PRL, cortisol and sleepiness were not significantly different between the first and eighth injection of Apo. Sensitization was not observed in any of the measures studied. These results are compatible with induction of acute tolerance of DA-mediated GH and yawning responses. The method used provides a safe pharmacological paradigm to examine plasticity of DA mechanisms in man. Results are discussed in the context of possible therapeutic implications for schizophrenia.
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PMID:Induction of tolerance of dopaminergic responses in man. 1850 87

Agmatine is a guanidine-amine formed by the enzymatic decarboxylation of arginine. Agmatine has been proposed to be a neuromodulator and its downstream derivatives, the polyamines, have been suggested to be responsible for sensory gating deficits seen in schizophrenia. In this study, male Wistar rats underwent treatments with agmatine, vehicle or other agents known to alter sensory gating in an experimental paradigm of prepulse inhibition (PPI) of the acoustic startle response. Apomorphine (1 mg/kg s.c.), a nonselective dopamine agonist known to disrupt PPI responses, was injected as the positive reference. Neither apomorphine nor agmatine (40-160 mg/kg i.p.) induced effects on the intensity of startle reflex without a prepulse. However, apomorphine or agmatine (160 mg/kg i.p.) disrupted the PPI of acoustic startle reflex. Furthermore, when given 30 min prior, agmatine acted additively with apomorphine's effect on PPI. In an attempt to gain more insight, haloperidol (1 and 2 mg/kg i.p.), clozapine (2.5-7.5 mg/kg i.p.) or quetiapine (2.5 and 7.5 mg/kg i.p.) was also injected prior to agmatine (160 mg/kg i.p.). Haloperidol (1 mg/kg) and clozapine (2.5 and 5 mg/kg) were able to prevent the PPI-disrupting effects of apomorphine. However, none of these antipsychotics prevent the PPI-disrupting effects of agmatine. These results suggest that agmatine disrupts the PPI of acoustic startle reflex of rats in a fundamentally different manner than apomorphine does. It may also have a critical role in the pathogenesis of sensorimotor gating-related dysfunctions.
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PMID:Agmatine disrupts prepulse inhibition of acoustic startle reflex in rats. 1928 21

Animal models allow insights into complex neurodevelopmental disorders. Apomorphine-susceptible rats (so-called APO-SUS rats) provide a model that displays a complex phenotype with schizophrenia-related features and together with its phenotypic counterpart (APO-UNSUS rats) has been independently generated twice (original and replicate rat lines). To understand the molecular basis underlying this phenotype, we here performed mRNA expression profiling in various APO-SUS and APO-UNSUS rat brain regions. The expression of only the previously reported Aph-1b and the newly discovered KCnIP1 (a member of the potassium channel-interacting protein family that is known to modulate neuronal channel activity) was significantly different in the APO-SUS and APO-UNSUS rats from both the original and replicate rat lines. Thus, KCnIP1 may constitute a novel candidate gene playing a role in the complex phenotype of the APO-SUS/APO-UNSUS rat model and further studies on this gene are warranted.
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PMID:Gene expression profiling in brain regions of a rat model displaying schizophrenia-related features. 1989 80

Prepulse inhibition (PPI) is a measure of sensorimotor gating and an endophenotype of schizophrenia. We have shown previously in rats that estrogen treatment prevents disruption of PPI by the 5-HT(1A)/5-HT(7) receptor agonist 8-hydroxy-2-dipropylaminotetralin (8-OH-DPAT). The aim of the present study was to examine the role of dopamine D(1) and D(2) and serotonin 5-HT(1A), 5-HT(2A), and 5-HT(7) receptors in these effects. Part 1 of this study investigated the ability of estrogen treatment to reverse PPI disruption induced by 8-OH-DPAT or the dopamine D(1)/D(2) receptor agonist apomorphine. Part 2 of this study compared these effects to the ability of various antagonists in reversing the action of 8-OH-DPAT and apomorphine on PPI. Female Sprague-Dawley rats were ovariectomized (OVX), and, where appropriate, they received silastic implants containing either a low (E20) or high dose (E100) of estrogen. Two weeks later, PPI was assessed using automated startle boxes. The disruption of PPI by either treatment with 8-OH-DPAT (0.5 mg/kg) or apomorphine (0.3 mg/kg) was similarly prevented by E100 treatment. 8-OH-DPAT-induced PPI disruption was reversed by pretreatment with the 5-HT(1A) receptor antagonist N-[2-[4-(2-methoxyphenyl)-1-piperazinyl]ethyl]-N-2-pyridinylcyclohexanecarboxamide maleate salt (WAY 100,635; 1 mg/kg) and the typical antipsychotic and dopamine D(2) receptor antagonist haloperidol (0.25 mg/kg), but it was not reversed by pretreatment with the dopamine D(1) receptor antagonist R-(+)-7-chloro-8-hydroxy-3-methyl-1-phenyl-2,3,4,5-tetrahydro-1H-3-benzazepine hydrochloride (SCH 23390; 0.1 mg/kg), the 5-HT(2A/2C) receptor antagonist ketanserin (2 mg/kg), or the 5-HT(7) receptor antagonist SB-269970 (10 mg/kg). Apomorphine-induced disruptions of PPI were reversed by haloperidol and SCH 23390 only. Estrogen may prevent disruptions of PPI induced by both 8-OH-DPAT and apomorphine by an action on dopamine D(2) receptors downstream of 5-HT(1A) receptors.
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PMID:Estrogen treatment blocks 8-hydroxy-2-dipropylaminotetralin- and apomorphine-induced disruptions of prepulse inhibition: involvement of dopamine D1 or D2 or serotonin 5-HT1A, 5-HT2A, or 5-HT7 receptors. 2004 29

Birth complications involving reduced oxygen to the fetus pose risks for neurodevelopmental disorders like schizophrenia and ADHD, which involve central dopamine (DA) dysfunction and also show gender differences in incidence or severity. Here, we examine possible sex differences in the long-term consequences of perinatal anoxia in the rat, on central DA systems and DA-mediated behaviour. As adults, sensorimotor gating (prepulse inhibition, PPI) was differentially affected by anoxia in males and females, tending to be impaired only in males. Apomorphine-induced suppression of PPI was especially pronounced in males. Anoxia caused increases in amygdala DA levels in both sexes. However, sex-specific changes in DA and metabolite levels in prefrontal cortex and nucleus accumbens were found, suggesting a possible basis for some of the observed gender biases in certain neurodevelopmental disorders, sensitive to birth hypoxia.
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PMID:Sex differences in the effects of perinatal anoxia on dopamine function in rats. 2206 35

Nitric oxide (NO) is an important intracellular messenger in the brain. The implication of NO in schizophrenia is well documented although it is not yet clear whether net over or underproduction of NO is typical of this disease. In line with this, either NO donors or NO synthase (NOS) inhibitors were found to abolish psychotomimetic effects, including cognition deficits, produced by N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor hypofunction. In addition, there is poor experimental evidence concerning the efficacy of NO to modulate memory deficits produced by dopamine (DA) dysfunction. The present study was designed to investigate the ability of NO modulators (NO donors and NOS inhibitors to reverse recognition memory impairments produced by the DA D(1)/D(2) mixed receptor agonist apomorphine in rats. For these studies, the novel object recognition test (NORT) was used as the memory test. Apomorphine (0.05, 0.1, 0.5 and 1.0 mg/kg), dose-dependently, disrupted performance in this recognition memory procedure in rats. The NO donors molsidomine (2.0 and 4.0 mg/kg) and SNP (0.3 and 1.0 mg/kg), reversed the impairing effects of apomorphine (1.0 mg/kg) in the NORT. Administration of the NOS inhibitors L-NAME (1.0 and 3.0 mg/kg) or 7-NI (1.0 and 3.0 mg/kg) produced similar results. The present findings indicate a) that apomorphine dose-dependently impaired recognition memory and b) that a cognitive deficit produced by DA dysfunction is sensitive to NO.
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PMID:Nitric oxide modulates apomorphine-induced recognition memory deficits in rats. 2273 30


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