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The effects of the anxiogenic beta-carboline FG 7142 (N-methyl-beta-carboline-3-carboxylate) on motor activity and dopamine release in nucleus accumbens and striatum were measured in the rat. Changes in extracellular homovanillic acid (HVA) concentration, monitored by computer-controlled linear sweep voltammetry with carbon-paste electrodes, were used as an index of changes in dopamine release. An intraperitoneal injection of FG 7142 was followed by an inhibition of the nocturnal rise in motor activity and in dopamine release in nucleus accumbens, but not striatum. Two days after the drug injection, dopamine release in nucleus accumbens returned to control level and then increased on days 3-6 after the injection; there was no delayed change in motor activity or in striatal dopamine release. In parallel experiments using ex vivo changes in the ratio of 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC) to dopamine as an index of changes in dopamine turnover, a similar early depression and delayed increase of dopamine turnover in nucleus accumbens, with no change in striatum, was found after an intraperitoneal injection of FG 7142. Regression analysis of motor activity versus dopamine release showed a decrease in correlation between these 2 parameters for nucleus accumbens but not striatum after FG 7142 injection. These results suggest that the inverse benzodiazepine receptor agonist FG 7142 has a biphasic effect on dopamine release from mesolimbic neurons and support the hypothesis that dopamine release in nucleus accumbens and striatum has a modulatory effect on the control of motor activity but does not play a determining role in the regulation of movement.

The effects of carbamazepine (CBZ) on brain 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) function were investigated in rodents pretreated with CBZ acutely or for 14 days. In behavioural experiments, mice pretreated with 14 days CBZ showed increased 5-HT2-mediated head twitch behaviour after injection of carbidopa (25 mg/kg) followed by 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP, 100 mg/kg). However, no change in head twitches after 5-methoxy,N,N,-dimethyltryptamine (5MeODMT 5.0 mg/kg), a direct agonist, was observed. Chronic CBZ administration to rats did not alter either the behavioural syndrome induced by 8-hydroxy-2-dipropylaminotetralin (8-OH-DPAT, 1.0 mg/kg), an index of postsynaptic 5-HT1A responses, or hypothermia after 8-OH-DPAT (0.5 mg/kg) which is thought to reflect presynaptic 5-HT1A activity. Both hyperactivity and the behavioural syndrome seen after tranylcypromine (20 mg/kg) followed by L-tryptophan (100 mg/kg) were decreased by prior treatment with CBZ (14 days). Accumulation of 5-HTP after administration of the amino acid decarboxylase inhibitor NSD1015 (100 mg/kg) was decreased after acute CBZ (50 mg/kg) in hippocampus. However, after 14 days oral treatment no change in this measure of 5-HT synthesis was seen, in either hippocampus or frontal cortex. CBZ (50 microM) added to superfused brain slices did not affect potassium-stimulated [3H]-5-HT release. However, hippocampal slices from rats pretreated with CBZ (14 days) showed increased potassium-stimulated [3H]-5-HT release. CBZ (14 days) did not alter 5-HT2 binding in rat frontal cortex.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

A previous report has described the presence of f‐[35S]‐ butylbicyclophosphorothionate binding sites and GABA‐gated CI flux in the human neuroblastoma IMR‐32 cell line. We now report the further characterisation of this binding site and, even more important, the identification of the GABAA receptor α3 subunit expressed in these cells. Cell membranes prepared from IMR‐32 cells were screened by immunoblotting for reactivity with various GABAA receptor a subunit‐specific antibodies. Of these, only anti‐Cys α3 454‐467 antibodies recognised specifically and in a dose‐dependent manner an immunoreactive band. This Mr58,000 immunoreactive species and the N‐deglycosylated derivatives were both coincident with the respective homologues found in both calf cerebral cortex membranes and purified receptor preparations. This is the first report of the identification of a specific GABAA receptor subunit expressed in a human cell line, and it therefore provides a convenient model for the study of receptor structure and regulation.

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