No abstract

This nursing intervention, tailored to the specific needs of the aged stroke patient, increased the patients' knowledge and skills concerning medication therapy, but to a limited extent and for a limited time.

The monoamines, dopamine, epinephrine, histamine, norepinephrine, octopamine, serotonin and tyramine serve many functions in animals. Many different venoms have evolved to manipulate monoaminergic systems via a variety of cellular mechanisms, for both offensive and defensive purposes. One common function of monoamines present in venoms is to produce pain. Some monoamines in venoms cause immobilizing hyperexcitation which precedes venom-induced paralysis or hypokinesia. A common function of venom components that affect monoaminergic systems is to facilitate distribution of other venom components by causing vasodilation at the site of injection or by increasing heart rate. Venoms of some scorpions, spiders, fish and jellyfish contain adrenergic agonists or cause massive release of catecholamines with serious effects on the cardiovascular system, including increased heart rate. Other venom components act as agonists, antagonists or modulators at monoaminergic receptors, or affect release, reuptake or synthesis of monoamines. Most arthropod venoms have insect targets, yet, little attention has been paid to possible effects of these venoms on monoaminergic systems in insects. Further research into this area may reveal novel effects of venom components on monoaminergic systems at the cellular, systems and behavioral levels.

The venom of the parasitoid wasp Ampulex compressa induces long-lasting hypokinesia in the cockroach prey. Previous work indicates that the venom acts in the subesophageal ganglion to indirectly affect modulation of thoracic circuits for locomotion. However, the target of the venom in the subesophageal ganglion, and the mechanism by which the venom achieves its effects are as yet unknown. While the stung cockroaches appear generally lethargic, not all behaviors were affected, indicating that the venom targets specific motor systems and not behavior in general. Stung cockroaches were observed "freezing" in abnormal positions. Reserpine, which depletes monoamines, mimics the behavioral effects of the venom. We treated cockroaches with antagonists to dopamine and octopamine receptors, and found that the dopamine system is required for normal escape response. Dopamine injection induces prolonged grooming in normal cockroaches, but not in stung, suggesting that the venom is affecting dopamine receptors, or targets downstream of these receptors, in the subesophageal ganglion. This dopamine blocking effect fades slowly over the course of several weeks, similar to the time course of recovery from hypokinesia. The similarity in the time courses suggests that the mechanism underlying the hypokinesia may be the block of the dopamine receptors.