Amounts Of Monoamines Research Articles

Neurotransmitter level in neuroamin-containing lung structures in different forms of tuberculosis

The aim of the study was to identify features of varying localization of monoamines (catecholamines, serotonin) in the cell structures in tuberculosis-affected lung autopsy samples. Material and methods. 165 cases of secondary pulmonary tuberculosis were studied by examining 2,500 histological preparations from patients aged 30 to 55 years, divided into 5 groups, corresponding to the forms of tuberculosis. The Falck–Hillarp luminescence-histochemical method was used to determine the content of neurotransmitters in lung structures. Results. While using the Falck–Hillarp luminescence-histochemical method, mycobacteria tuberculosis containing catecholamines and serotonin were detected in autopsy material of lungs affected by a specific inflammatory process, as well as neuroamine-containing granular luminescent cells and mast cells. Affected and intact areas of the lungs contain different amounts of monoamines. The number of cells and level of the bioamines studied depends on the form of secondary tuberculosis. It was found that in small forms of secondary tuberculosis (acute focal, fibrous-focal, infiltrative), the number of cells and quantitative parameters of neurotransmitters (catecholamines, serotonin) examined in granular luminescent and mast cells change to rise. In case of lung destructive processes, the level of catecholamines in the structures studied of affected area was higher than in control. The concentration of serotonin in the studied cells lung tissue affected by the tuberculosis process was reduced. Elastic nerve fibers at the sites of mycobacteria were altered as well. They displayed no clear luminescence, looked “swollen”, sometimes lacking varicose veins. Conclusion. Comparing the results of the study with the literature data, it was found that pulmonary tuberculosis occurs as a delayed reaction, and Mycobacterium tuberculosis manifests itself as a corpuscular antigen.

Effect of Environmental Lighting on Aggressive and Anxious Behavior in Male Mice

Koutoku, T., Nakanishi, T., Takagi, T., Yamasaki, I., Zhang, R., Sashihara, K., Saito, E.-S., Saito, S. and Furuse, M. 2003. Effect of environmental lighting on aggressive and anxious behavior in male mice. J. Appl. Anim. Res., 23: 65–74. To study the influence of the different conditions of environmental lightning on aggressive behavior and open field activity, male mice were kept under different conditions of environmental lighting, i.e., A) 12-hour each light and dark (LD), B) continuous light (LL) and C) continuous dark (DD) for 27 days. Although no significant differences were observed among three groups, LL and DD conditions tended to show the inhibitory effect on aggression. In the open field test, the crossing, the time and the path significantly increased with the length of lighting period, but the rearing and defecation were not affected. The amounts of monoamines and their metabolites in the cerebellum, cerebrum and brainstem were hardly affected by lighting conditions. Taken together, DD condition was most preferable for mice to keep calm rather LL condition.

Ghrelin Activates Behavior of Neonatal Chicks in a Short Period of Post-Intracerebroventricular Injection

Saito, E., Takagi, T., Nakanishi, T., Sashihara, K. and Furuse, M. 2002. Ghrelin activates behavior of neonatal chicks in a short period of post-intracerebroventricular injection. J. Appl. Anim. Res., 22: 33–41. Ghrelin, a novel growth hormone (GH)-releasing peptide with an acylated side chain, is the endogenous ligand for the GH secretagogue receptor. Intracerebroventricular (ICV) injection of ghrelin stimulates GH secretion and feeding of rats, but ghrelin inhibited feeding of neonatal chicks. It was also confirmed that ghrelin induced sleep-like behavior later than 30 minutes post-administration in neonatal chicks. However, exciting behavior was observed in a short period (less than 30 min) in previous reports. Thus, we further investigated the behavioral changes in neonatal chicks by ICV administration of ghrelin within a short period. Chicks were divided into two groups and administered ICV saline or 2μg of ghrelin and the numbers of step and vocalization were monitored. Just after behavioral test, the amount of monoamines of chick hypothalamus was determined by high performance liquid chromatography. Central ghrelin enhanced the numbers of step and kept the numbers of vocalization, but no significant difference in the amount of monoamines was detected. In conclusion, central ghrelin activates chick behavior in a short period without modification of hypothalamic monoamine contents.

Role of monoamines in recovery of conditioned reflex activity after frontal lobectomy in rats

The influence of frontal cortex extirpation on the amount of monoamines in the brain structures was investigated in chronic experiments on rats trained according to the method of motor feeding reflexes with bilateral reinforcement. Monoamine levels were measured by high performance liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection. By the ninth day after the ablation serotonin (5-HT) and dopamine (DA) levels were significantly reduced in the cortex and the striatum, respectively, while noradrenaline ++ (NA), 5-HT, dihydroxyphenylacetic and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid levels in raphe nuclei and locus coeruleus were increased. The level of conditioned reflex reproduction was 39% on the light and 33% on the sound stimulus. The involvement of monoamines in the recovery of conditioned reflexes after frontal cortex extirpation is discussed.

A Catecholamine storage in the pancreatic A2-cells of owl monkey (Aotes trivirgatus)

The fluorescence method ofFalck andHillarp was used to study the occurrence of biogenic monoamines in the islets of Langerhans of monkeys. A storage of a catecholamine was demonstrated in the A2-cells of owl monkey, whereas no histochemically demonstrable amount of monoamines could be seen in the islet cells of marmoset,Rhesus monkey, squirrel monkey, andCebus monkey.