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Dopamine-β-hydroxylase activity in the rat adrenal gland decreases 53% three weeks after hypophysectomy. ACTH administration for 5 days causes the activity to increase. Large doses of dexamethasone do not affect the adrenal activity after hypophysectomy. Total cardiac DBH activity is decreased after pituitary ablation but, when expressed per g of tissue, is higher than in the hearts of sham-operated, agematched animals.(Endocrinology 87: 894, 1970

Sedentary/inactive lifestyle leads middle-aged and older adults to metabolic syndrome and frailty. Capsinoids from nonpungent chili pepper cultivar have been reported to reduce body fat mass, promote metabolism, and improve unidentified complaints of chills. Additionally, they have an anti-inflammation effect; therefore, we hypothesized that continuous oral ingestion of capsinoids alleviates age-related inflammation in the brain and improves the physical activity (PA) in middle-aged and older adults. In our double-blind human study, 69 participants (17 male, 52 female; mean age: 74.1 ± 7.7 years; range: 52–87 years) were administered either 9 mg of capsinoids which were extracted from pepper fruit variety CH-19 Sweet (Capsicum anuum L.) (CP group), or a placebo (PL group) daily over a 3 month period. In an animal study, PA and inflammation-related mRNA expression in the brain were examined in 5-week (young) and 53-week (old) aged mice fed a diet with or without 0.3% dihydrocapsiate, a type of capsinoids, for 12 weeks. In a human study, capsinoids intake did not increase the amount of light-to-moderate PA less than 6.0 metabolic equivalents (METs) (CP: 103.0 ± 28.2 at baseline to 108.2 ± 28.3 at 12 weeks; PL: 104.6 ± 19.8 at baseline to 115.2 ± 23.6 at 12 weeks, METs × hour/week); however, in participants exhibiting an inactive lifestyle, it showed significant increase (CP: 84.5 ± 17.2 at baseline to 99.2 ± 24.9 at 12 weeks; PL: 99.7 ± 23.3 at baseline to 103.8 ± 21.9 at 12 weeks). The energy expenditure in physical activity also improved in the inactive CP group (CP: 481.2 ± 96.3 at baseline to 562.5 ± 145.5 at 12 weeks; PL: 536.8 ± 112.2 at baseline to 598.6 ± 127.6 at 12 weeks; kcal/day). In all participants, CP showed reduced waist circumference, percent body fat, and visceral fat volume; in addition, chills were eased in subjects aged 80 years and older. The older mice fed capsinoids showed increased locomotion activity, decreased inflammation, and oxidative stress in the brain. The results suggest that the continuous oral ingestion of capsinoids gains PA through anti-inflammation effect in the brain as well as reduces fat accumulation and chills in inactive and older humans.

Optical methods can usefully augment classical techniques such as electrical recording for investigating cellular and network physiology. Here, recent developments in optical methods–including confocal and nonlinear fluorescence imaging, semiconductor array imaging, and improved fluorescent indicators of ion concentration and transmembrane electrical potential–are briefly reviewed, and examples are offered that may suggest potential applications to experimental studies in alcoholism research.

A new sequential image processing method for motion compensation of a moving object with stringy shape has been developed for estimating the pharyngeal pulsation of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans under several environmental conditions. The method is based on the pixel data transfer on a new image frame while changing the boundary shape and the position but preserving the conformation of the inner structure of an object. All digitized image frames of C. elegans were first converted to motion-compensated images to arrange the pulsation site in the same region of the every transformed frame. The pulsation site was then automatically detected by determining the pixels where the temporal brightness variation was much larger than that of the other pixels. Finally, the pulsation frequency was determined by the Fourier analysis. The validity of our method has been confirmed by analyzing various test data, and the method has been applied for detecting the pharyngeal pulsation frequencies of C. elegans on some environmental conditions, i.e. feed bacteria-free/rich, doping of nerve inactivating ethyl-alcohol and nerve stimulant neurochemical substance of serotonin. The motion compensation method automatically provided reasonable pulsation frequencies which were found to be comparable to those obtained by manual counting. Thus the method is useful for systematic investigations on the variation of pharyngeal pulsation associated with the activity change of the nervous system in environments.

AbstractAlcohol engages signaling pathways in the brain. Midkine (MDK) is a neurotrophic factor that is over‐expressed in the prefrontal cortex of alcoholics.MDKand one of its receptors, anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK), also regulate behavioral responses to ethanol in mice. The goal of this study was to determine whetherMDKandALKexpression and signaling are activated by ethanol. We found that ethanol treatment of neuroblastoma cells increasedMDKandALKexpression. We also assessed activation ofALKby ethanol in cells and found thatALKandALK‐dependent extracellular signal‐regulated kinase (ERK) and signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) phosphorylation increased rapidly with ethanol exposure. Similarly, treatment of cells with recombinantMDKprotein increasedALK,ERKand STAT3 phosphorylation, suggesting that ethanol may utilizeMDKto activateALKsignaling. In support of this, transfection of cells withMDKsiRNAs attenuatedALKsignaling in response to ethanol. Ethanol also activatesERKsignaling in the brain. We found that inhibition ofALKor knockout ofMDKattenuated ethanol‐inducedERKphosphorylation in mouse amygdala. These results demonstrate that ethanol engagesMDKandALKsignaling, which has important consequences for alcohol‐induced neurotoxicity and the regulation of behaviors related to alcohol abuse.imageWe propose that ethanol (a) increases transcription of the anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) and midkine (MDK) genes and (b) rapidly activates extracellular signal‐regulated kinase (pERK1/2) and signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (pSTAT3) through MDK and ALK. Activation of ALK and MDK signaling by ethanol may alter behavioral responses to ethanol with implications for the development of alcohol use disorders.

The membrane potential of rat brain synaptosomes was depolarized by ethanol at concentrations of over 0.8-1.6%. This ethanol-induced depolarization was augmented by 4-aminopyridine (4-AP) or the gluconate- -medium, but not affected by tetrodotoxin, choline-Cl, NH4Cl, picrotoxin, ethacrynic acid, furosemide or SCN- -medium. The ethanol-induced depolarization was augmented by 4-AP in Cl- - or gluconate- -medium, but not in SCN- -medium. These findings suggest that ethanol depolarizes the synaptosomal membrane potential through potassium and anion-related mechanisms, probably through potassium channels.

Predominant health impacts from alcoholism are chronic neurologic deficits and hepatic dysfunction. Pueraria extract (PE) is a solution obtained from the dried root of Pueraria lobate and can reverse alcohol-induced hepatic damage. The present study aimed to elucidate the effects of PE on ethanol-induced injury in microglia and neurons. To confirm the reliability of the experimental approach, an in vivo demonstration of PE activity was used to verify its impact on hepatic damage in mice exposed to ethanol (ETOH). Subsequently, an in vitro assay was used to verify the effects of PE on ETOH-exposed microglia and neurons.PE reversed fibrosis and hyperplasia, adipocyte infiltration, hepatomegaly, hepatic function, lipid metabolism, indicators of oxidative stress, and morphological changes in hepatic cells, induced by ETOH exposure. The reliability of the experimental approach was thus confirmed. PE also reversed the activation of microglia and inflammatory-related cytokines and proteins induced by ETOH exposure. PE showed protective effects on neurons via inhibition of mitochondrial fission. in vivo and in vitro evidence indicated that PE might be useful in the treatment of both hepatic injury and neurologic deficits commonly observed in chronic alcoholism.

To estimate the nutritional and the pathological states in thiamin-deficiency-related diseases, especially Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome, we studied the relationship among transketolase activity, transketolase concentration, and thiamin phosphate esters in rats chronically fed alcohol. In the brain of alcohol-fed rats, the enzyme activity and concentration decreased although there was no positive correlation between the two. On the contrary, transketolase activity in the liver correlated positively with concentration, and both transketolase activity and concentration were decreased in the thiamin-deficient groups. These findings suggest that transketolase in the brain may be different from that in the liver and that the alteration of the enzyme activity in the brain may be based on the conformational change of the protein molecule caused by chronic alcohol administration.