Dietary restriction protects against chronic-ethanol-induced changes in exploratory behavior in Wistar rats

Abstract Introduction. Mercury is one of the most hazardous environmental contaminants to living organisms and the central nervous system has been shown to be the main target. Objective. The present work was aimed at evaluating the effect of ascorbic acid on mercury chloride-induced changes on the cerebellar cortex of adult Wistar rats. Material and method. Thirty Wistar rats of average weight of 200g and were randomly divided into 6 groups of 5 rats each. The animals in Group 1 (control) were administered with distilled water, Groups 2 and 3 were administered with 52mg/kg and 26.25mg/kg body weight of HgCl respectively while Groups 4 and 5 were administered with 52mg/kg of HgCl and 5mg/kg of ascorbic acid and 26.25gm/kg of HgCl and 5mg/kg of ascorbic acid respectively, while Group 6 was administered with 5mg/kg of ascorbic acid. The administration was through oral route, daily for 3 weeks. Results. The result of the biochemical parameters showed a significant increase (P < 0.05) on the mean SOD and LPO values after the administration of mercury chloride and Ascorbic acid. Histological observation of the cerebellar cortex, showed normal histo-morphology in Groups 1 and 6 while, the cerebellum in Groups 2, 3, 4 and 5 showed some degenerative, necrotic and cellular changes. Conclusion. However, ascorbic acid administration has shown to ameliorate the induced degenerative changes in the cerebellum caused by mercury chloride toxicity in Wistar rats.

Download Full-text

Impaired alanine uptake by basolateral liver plasma membrane vesicles from rats consuming ethanol

AJP Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology ◽

10.1152/ajpgi.1991.261.6.g913 ◽

1991 ◽

Vol 261 (6) ◽

pp. G913-G920

Author(s):

D. J. Smith ◽

S. A. Ploch

Keyword(s):

Plasma Membrane ◽

Lipid Composition ◽

Cholesterol Content ◽

Ethanol Consumption ◽

Chronic Ethanol ◽

Transport Systems ◽

Liver Plasma Membrane ◽

Alanine Transport ◽

Chronic Ethanol Consumption ◽

Induced Changes

Chronic ethanol consumption reduces alanine transport by rat basolateral liver plasma membrane (blLPM) vesicles; however, the mechanism for this effect remains uncertain. It may be related to the ethanol-induced changes in blLPM fluidity and lipid composition; alternatively ethanol might reduce the number of transporters in the blLPM. To investigate the effect of blLPM fluidity and lipid composition on Na(+)-dependent alanine uptake these parameters were altered in vitro. Increasing the blLPM fluidity had no effect on Na(+)-dependent alanine uptake by blLPM vesicles or the activity of amino acid transport systems, A and ASC. Because ethanol is known to reduce the blLPM cholesterol content, the influence of altering blLPM cholesterol on alanine transport by these membranes was investigated next. Neither an increase nor a decrease of the cholesterol content of the blLPM altered Na(+)-dependent alanine uptake or the activity of system A or ASC. Finally, the influence of chronic ethanol consumption on the specific binding of [3H]alanine to blLPM was studied. The dissociation constant for alanine binding to blLPM from ethanol-fed rats and their pair-fed controls was similar (1.9 +/- 0.2 vs. 2.0 +/- 0.3 mM); however, the maximal binding capacity for alanine was significantly (P less than 0.05) lower in the blLPM from ethanol-fed rats (316 +/- 53 pmol/mg protein) compared with their pair-fed controls (527 +/- 79 pmol/mg protein). These studies do not support the hypothesis that ethanol-induced changes in blLPM fluidity are responsible for the impaired alanine transport; they do suggest that ethanol may reduce the

Download Full-text

Enhancement of Exploratory Behavior by Strychnine Sulfate

Psychological Reports ◽

10.2466/pr0.1968.23.3.876 ◽

1968 ◽

Vol 23 (3) ◽

pp. 876-878 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

George C. Theologus ◽

Robert G. Gibby ◽

David G. Crough

Keyword(s):

Open Field ◽

Exploratory Behavior ◽

Wistar Rats ◽

Male Wistar Rats ◽

And Control

An experiment was conducted to study the effect of strychnine sulfate on the exploratory behavior of male, Wistar rats in an open field. The number of times S reared in a stimulus square and the number of stimuli to which a S reared were recorded for both experimental and control Ss. Analyses of covariance performed on both measures of exploratory behavior showed that exploratory behavior was significantly increased by strychnine sulfate.

Download Full-text