The Effects of Anandamide Signaling Enhanced by the FAAH Inhibitor URB597 on Coping Styles in Rats.
The effects of anandamide signaling enhanced by the FAAH inhibitor URB597 on coping styles in rats.
Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2013 Jun 7;
Haller J, Goldberg SR, Pelczer KG, Aliczki M, Panlilio LV
RATIONALE: Coping styles are fundamental characteristics of behavior that affect susceptibility to, and resilience during, mental and physical illness. Shifts from passive to active coping are considered therapeutic goals in many stress-related disorders, but the neural control of coping is poorly understood. Based on earlier findings, we hypothesized that coping styles are influenced by endocannabinoids. OBJECTIVES: Here, we tested whether FAAH inhibition by URB597 affects behaviors aimed at controlling a critical situation and the degree to which environmental stimuli influence behavior i.e., we studied the impact of URB597 on the two main attributes of coping styles. METHODS: Rats were tested in the tail-pinch test of coping and in the elevated plus-maze test that was performed under highly divergent conditions. RESULTS: Under the effects of URB597, rats focused their behavior more on the discomfort-inducing clamp in the tail-pinch test, i.e., they coped with the challenge more actively. In the elevated plus-maze, URB597-treated rats demonstrated an autonomous behavioral control by reducing both “wariness” induced by aversive conditions and “carelessness” resulting from favorable conditions. CONCLUSIONS: URB597 treatment-induced behavioral changes indicated a shift towards active coping with challenges. This behavioral change appears compatible with the previously suggested role of endocannabinoids in emotional homeostasis. Albeit further studies are required to characterize the role of endocannabinoids in coping, these findings suggest that the enhancement of endocannabinoid signaling may become a therapeutic option in emotional disorders characterized by passive coping (e.g., anxiety and depression) and in physical diseases where active coping is therapeutically desirable. HubMed – depression
Do impaired memory, cognitive dysfunction and distress play a role in methotrexate-related neutropenia in rheumatoid arthritis patients? A comparative study.
Rheumatol Int. 2013 Jun 7;
Pamuk ON, Kisacik B, Pamuk GE, Onat AM, Sayarlioglu M, Donmez S, Pehlivan Y, Keystone EC
We evaluated the roles of sociocultural status, distress and cognitive functions in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients who developed methotrexate (MTX)-related neutropenia. The data of 37 RA patients with MTX-related neutropenia who were being followed up at 3 centers were evaluated. The control group included 74 RA patients. The clinical features, biochemical tests and treatment modalities of the patients were obtained from hospital files. The mini-mental state examination (MMSE) test and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) were administered for all RA patients with neutropenia as well as the control group. The frequencies of male patients, illiterate patients, patients living alone, patients with serious visual impairment, those with low income, and patients with high creatinine were significantly higher among RA patients with MTX-related neutropenia than in controls (p values <0.05). The RA patients with MTX-related neutropenia had significantly lower MMSE scores, and significantly higher HADS-A and HADS-D scores than controls (p values <0.05). In addition, the proportion of patients with probable dementia was significantly higher in RA patients with MTX-related neutropenia than in controls (p < 0.001). Twenty-six of the 37 patients (70.3 %) developed neutropenia with daily dosing. Patients who used MTX daily were more likely to be living alone than those using weekly dosing (p = 0.011). Multivariate analysis showed that having probable dementia on the MMSE test (OR 52.6), low income level (OR 56.8) and age (OR 1.12) were independent risk factors for the development of MTX-related neutropenia. The presence of probable dementia on MMSE, low socioeconomical status and older age are associated with serious toxicity in RA patients using MTX. Measures should be taken to prevent wrong MTX dosing by the patients. Compliance and patient education is of major importance, in particular, in the patients presented in this study. HubMed – depression
Using major ions and ?(15)N-NO3(-) to identify nitrate sources and fate in an alluvial aquifer of the Baiyangdian lake watershed, North China Plain.
Environ Sci Process Impacts. 2013 Jun 7;
Wang S, Tang C, Song X, Yuan R, Wang Q, Zhang Y
In semi-arid regions, most human activities occur in alluvial fan areas; however, NO3(-) pollution has greatly threatened the shallow groundwater quality. In this paper, ?(15)N-NO3(-) and multi-tracers were used to identify the origin and fate of NO3(-) in groundwater of the Baiyangdian lake watershed, North China Plain. The investigation was conducted in two typical regions: one is the agricultural area located in the upstream of the watershed and another is the region influenced by urban wastewater in the downstream of the watershed. Results indicate that the high NO3(-) concentrations of the upstream shallow groundwater were sourced from fertilizer and manure or sewage leakage, whilst the mixture and denitrification caused the decrease in the NO3(-) concentration along the flow path of the groundwater. In the downstream, industrial and domestic effluent has a great impact on groundwater quality. The contaminated rivers contributed from 45% to 76% of the total recharge to the groundwater within a distance of 40 m from the river. The mixture fraction of the wastewater declined with the increasing distance away from the river. However, groundwater with NO3(-) concentrations larger than 20 mg l(-1) was only distributed in areas near to the polluted river or the sewage irrigation area. It is revealed that the frontier and depression regions of an alluvial fan in a lake watershed with abundant organics, silt and clay sediments have suitable conditions for denitrification in the downstream. HubMed – depression
Does hypercapnia-induced impairment of cerebral autoregulation affect neurovascular coupling? A functional TCD study.
J Appl Physiol. 2013 Jun 6;
Maggio P, Salinet AS, Panerai RB, Robinson TG
Neurovascular coupling (NVC) and dynamic cerebral autoregulation (dCA) are both impaired in the acute phase of ischaemic stroke, but their reciprocal interactions are difficult to predict. In order to clarify these aspects, the present study explored NVC in a healthy volunteer population during a surrogate state of impaired dCA, induced by hypercapnia. This study aimed to test if hypercapnia leads to a depression of NVC through an impairment of dCA. Continuous recordings of middle cerebral arteries cerebral blood flow velocity (CBFv), blood pressure (BP), heart rate and end-tidal CO2 were performed in 19 right-handed subjects (aged >45 y) before, during and after 60s of a passive paradigm during normocapnia and hypercapnia. The CBFv response was broken down into subcomponents describing the relative contributions of BP (VBP), critical closing pressure (VCrCP), and resistance area product (VRAP). VRAP reflects myogenic activity in response to BP changes, whereas VCrCP is more indicative of metabolic control. The results revealed that hypercapnia significantly affected NVC, with significant reductions in the relative contribution of VCrCP to the paradigm-induced increase in CBFv. The present study showed that impaired dCA leads to a depression of NVC through an impairment of the metabolic component of CBF control. HubMed – depression