• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.163-173
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• 1998

Nuclear medicine emission computed tomography(ECT) can be very useful to diagnose early stage of neuronal diseases and to measure theraputic results objectively, if we can quantitate energy metabolism, blood flow, biochemical processes, or dopamine receptor and transporter using ECT. However, physical factors including attenuation, scatter, partial volume effect, noise, and reconstruction algorithm make it very difficult to quantitate independent of type of SPECT. In this study, we quantitated the effects of attenuation and scatter using brain SPECT and three-dimensional brain phantom with and without applying their correction methods. Dual energy window method was applied for scatter correction. The photopeak energy window and scatter energy window were set to 140ke${\pm}$10% and 119ke${\pm}$6% and 100% of scatter window data were subtracted from the photopeak window prior to reconstruction. The projection data were reconstructed using Butterworth filter with cutoff frequency of 0.95cycles/cm and order of 10. Attenuation correction was done by Chang's method with attenuation coefficients of 0.12/cm and 0.15/cm for the reconstruction data without scatter correction and with scatter correction, respectively. For quantitation, regions of interest (ROIs) were drawn on the three slices selected at the level of the basal ganglia. Without scatter correction, the ratios of ROI average values between basal ganglia and background with attenuation correction and without attenuation correction were 2.2 and 2.1, respectively. However, the ratios between basal ganglia and background were very similar for with and without attenuation correction. With scatter correction, the ratios of ROI average values between basal ganglia and background with attenuation correction and without attenuation correction were 2.69 and 2.64, respectively. These results indicate that the attenuation correction is necessary for the quantitation. When true ratios between basal ganglia and background were 6.58, 4.68, 1.86, the measured ratios with scatter and attenuation correction were 76%, 80%, 82% of their true ratios, respectively. The approximate 20% underestimation could be partially due to the effect of partial volume and reconstruction algorithm which we have not investigated in this study, and partially due to imperfect scatter and attenuation correction methods that we have applied in consideration of clinical applications.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.17-23
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• 1984

For nearly a century it has been known that chemical activity accompanies mental activity, but only recently has it been possible to begin to examine its exact nature. Positron-emitting radioactive tracers have made it possible to study the chemistry of the human mind in health and disease, using chiefly cyclotron-produced radionuclides, carbon-11, fluorine-18 and oxygen-15. It is now well established that measurable increases in regional cerebral blood flow, glucose and oxygen metabolism accompany the mental functions of perception, cognition, emotion and motion. On May 25, 1983 the first imaging of a neuroreceptor in the human brain was accomplished with carbon-11 methyl spiperone, a ligand that binds preferentially to dopamine-2 receptors, 80% of which are located in the caudate nucleus and putamen. Quantitative imaging of serotonin-2, opiate, benzodiazapine and muscarinic cholinergic receptors has subsequently been accomplished. In studies of normal men and women, it has been found that dopamine and serotonin receptor activity decreases dramatically with age, such a decrease being more pronounced in men than in women and greater in the case of dopamine receptors than serotonin-2 receptors. Preliminary studies in patients with neuropsychiatric disorders suggests that dopamine-2 receptor activity is diminished in the caudate nucleus of patients with Huntington's disease. Positron tomography permits quantitative assay of picomolar quantities of neuro-receptors within the living human brain. Studies of patients with Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, acute and chronic pain states and drug addiction are now in progress. The growth of any scientific field is based on a paradigm or set of ideas that the community of scientists accepts. The unifying principle of nuclear medicine is the tracer principle applied to the study of human disease. Nineteen hundred and sixty-three was a landmark year in which technetium-99m and the Anger camera combined to move the field from its latent stage into a second stage characterized by exponential growth within the framework of the paradigm. The third stage, characterized by gradually declining growth, began in 1973. Faced with competing advances, such as computed tomography and ultrasonography, proponents and participants in the field of nuclear medicine began to search for greener pastures or to pursue narrow sub-specialties. Research became characterized by refinements of existing techniques. In 1983 nuclear medicine experienced what could be a profound change. A new paradigm was born when it was demonstrated that, despite their extremely low chemical concentrations, in the picomolar range, it was possible to image and quantify the distribution of receptors in the human body. Thus, nuclear medicine was able to move beyond physiology into biochemistry and pharmacology. Fundamental to the science of pharmacology is the concept that many drugs and endogenous substances, such as neurotransmitters, react with specific macromolecules that mediate their pharmacologic actions. Such receptors are usually identified in the study of excised tissues, cells or cell membranes, or in autoradiographic studies in animals. The first imaging and quantification of a neuroreceptor in a living human being was performed on May 25, 1983 and reported in the September 23, 1983 issue of SCIENCE. The study involved the development and use of carbon-11 N-methyl spiperone (NMSP), a drug with a high affinity for dopamine receptors. Since then, studies of dopamine and serotonin receptors have been carried out in over 100 normal persons or patients with various neuropsychiatric disorders. Exactly one year later, the first imaging of opitate receptors in a living human being was performed [1].

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.455-468
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• 1998

For the objective interpretation of cerebral metabolic patterns in epilepsy patients, we developed computer-aided classifier using artificial neural network. We studied interictal brain FDG PET scans of 257 epilepsy patients who were diagnosed as normal(n=64), L TLE (n=112), or R TLE (n=81) by visual interpretation. Automatically segmented volume of interest (VOI) was used to reliably extract the features representing patterns of cerebral metabolism. All images were spatially normalized to MNI standard PET template and smoothed with 16mm FWHM Gaussian kernel using SPM96. Mean count in cerebral region was normalized. The VOls for 34 cerebral regions were previously defined on the standard template and 17 different counts of mirrored regions to hemispheric midline were extracted from spatially normalized images. A three-layer feed-forward error back-propagation neural network classifier with 7 input nodes and 3 output nodes was used. The network was trained to interpret metabolic patterns and produce identical diagnoses with those of expert viewers. The performance of the neural network was optimized by testing with 5~40 nodes in hidden layer. Randomly selected 40 images from each group were used to train the network and the remainders were used to test the learned network. The optimized neural network gave a maximum agreement rate of 80.3% with expert viewers. It used 20 hidden nodes and was trained for 1508 epochs. Also, neural network gave agreement rates of 75~80% with 10 or 30 nodes in hidden layer. We conclude that artificial neural network performed as well as human experts and could be potentially useful as clinical decision support tool for the localization of epileptogenic zones.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.23-30
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• 1968

Tissue homogenates of 12 kinds of human cancer tissues were incubated separately in medium containing $C^{14}-1-glucose$ and $C^{14}-6-glucose$ as a substrate in order to observe the oxidative pathway of glucose in the tumor tissues. At the end of 3 hours incubation in the Dubnuff metabolic shaking incubator, respiratory $CO_2$ samples trapped by alkaling which was placed in the center well of incubation flask were analysed for total $CO_2$ production rates and their radioactivities. The tissue homogenate samples after incubation were analyzed for their concentrations of glucose, lactate and pyruvate. Calculations were made on the glucose consumption rate and accumulation rates of lactate and pyruvate. Fractionation of oxidative pathway of glucose was carried out by calculating $C^{14}O_2 yields from C-1 and C-6 carbon of glucose. The following results were obtained. 1. In 12 kinds of human cancer, total $CO_2$ production rates were less than $8{\mu}M/gm$ except 2 cases. These lower values impressed that oxidative metabolism in the tumor tissues generally inhibited as compared with that in normal tissues. On the other hand, fractions of $CO_2$ derived from glucose to total $CO_2$ production rates (RSA) were less than 10% in every case. These facts showed that oxidation of glucose into $CO_2$ was remarkably inhibited in the tumor tissues. 2. Factions of glucose disappeared into $CO_2\;(RGD_{CO_2})$, lactate $(RGD_L)$, pyruvate $(RGD_P)$ to glucose consumption rates were as follows. $RGD_{CO_2}$ were less than 2% in cases of in this experiment and $RGD_L$ showed more than 5% except in 2 cases. These facts showed that anaerobic degradation of glucose into 3 carbon compounds was easily proceeded but further degradation into $CO_2$ via the TCA cycle was greatly inhibited resulting in accumulation of lactate. There are large variation in values of $RGD_P$ in different kinds of tumor tissue but relatively higher values in $RGD_{CO_2}$ were obtained in the tumor tissues as compared with those of normal tissues. 3. The oxidative pathway of glucose in tumor tissues were analyzed from the values of RSA which were obtained in $C^{14}-1\;and\;C^{14}-6-glucose$ incubation experiments. It was found that 3% of $CO_2$ derived from glucose were oxidized via the principal EMP-TCA cycle and the remainder were via alternate pathway such as HMP in the liver cancer and values in other cancer tissues were as follows; 4% in the tongue cancer, 6% in the colon cancer, 6% in the lung cancer, 9% in the stomach cancer, 11% in the ovarian cancer, 12% in the neck tumor, 22% in the uterine cancer, 22% in the bladder tumor, 32% in the spindle cell sarcoma and 65% in the brain tumor. These values except later 2 cases showed less than 30% which is the lowest value among the normal tissues. Even in the brain tumor in which showed highest value in the tumor group. It is reasonable to suppose that this fraction was remarkably decreased because values in normal brain tissue was more than 90%. From the above data, it was concluded that in tumor tissues, oxidation of glucose via TCA cycle was greatly inhibited but correlation between degree of inhibited oxidation of glucose via TCA cycle and malignancy of tumor were not clarified in this experiments.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.260-268
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• 2010

The lactate dehydrogenase (EC 1.1.1.27, LDH) isozymes in tissues from Channa argus were purified and characterized by biochemical, immunochemical and kinetic methods. The activity of LDH in skeletal muscle was the highest at 380.4 units and those in heart, eye and brain tissues were 13.4, 3,5 and 5.4 units, respectively. Citrate synthase (EC 4.1.3.7, CS) activity in heart tissue was the highest at 20.7 units. LDH/CS in skeletal muscle, heart, eye and brain tissues were 172.9, 0.6, 0.32 and 0.47. Protein concentration in skeletal muscle tissue was 14.7 mg/g and specific activities of LDH in skeletal muscle, heart, eye and brain tissues were 25.88, 0.79, 0.31 and 1.38 units/mg, respectively. Therefore, skeletal muscle tissue was anaerobic and heart tissue was aerobic. The LDH isozymes in tissues were identified by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, immunoprecipitation and Western blot with antiserum against $A_4$, $B_4$, and eye-specific $C_4$. LDH $A_4$, $A_3B$, $A_2B_2$. $AB_3$ and $B_4$ isozymes were detected in every tissue, $C_4$, $AC_3$, $A_2C_2$ and $A_3C$ were detected in eye tissue, and $A_3C$ was found in brain tissue. LDH $A_4$, $A_3B$, $A_2B_2$, $AB_3$, $B_4$, eye-specific $C_4$ isozymes were purified by affinity chromatography and Preparative PAGE Cells. The LDH $A_4$ isozyme was purified in the fraction from elution with $NAD^+$ containing buffer of affinity chromatography. Eye-specific $C_4$ isozyme was eluted right after $A_4$, after which $B_4$ isozyme was eluted with plain buffer. As a result, one part of molecular structures in $A_4$, $B_4$ and eye-specific $C_4$ were similar, but were different from each other in $B_4$ and $C_4$. Therefore the subunit A may be conservative in evolution, and the evolution of subunit B seems to be faster than that of subunit A. The activity of LDH $A_4$, $A_2B_2$, $B_4$, and eye-specific $C_4$ isozymes remained at 39.98, 21.28, 19.67 and 16.87% as a result of the inhibition by 10 mM of pyruvate, so the degree of inhibition was very high. The $Km^{PYR}$ values were 0.17, 0.27 and 0.133 mM in $A_4$, $B_4$ and eye-specific $C_4$ isozymes, respectively. The optimum pH of LDH $A_4$, $B_4$, eye-specific $C_4$, $A_2B_2$, $A_3B$, and $AB_3$ were pH 6.5, pH 8.5, pH 5.5, pH 6.0-6.5, pH 5.0 and pH 7.5. The $A_4$ and heterotetramer isozymes stabilized a broad range of pH. Especially, LDH activities in skeletal muscle tissue were high, resulting in a high degree of muscle activity.LDH metabolism in eye tissue seems to be converted faster from pyruvate to lactate by eye-specific $C_4$ isozyme as eye-specific $C_4$ have the highest affinity for pyruvate, and right after the conversion, oxidation of lactate was induced by $A_4$ isozyme. It was found that expression of Ldh-C, affinity to substrate and reaction time of $C_4$ isozyme were different according to the ecological environmental and feeding capturing patterns.

• The Korean Journal of Pharmacology
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.323-334
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• 1996

Male Mongolian gerbils $(60{\sim}80g)$ were given DL-difluoromethylornithine (DFMO; 250mg/kg, ip) and methylglyoxal bis(guanylhydrazone) (MGBG; 50 mg/k, ip), respectively, 1 h prior to transient (7 min) occlusion of bilateral common carotid arteries (OBC7) and a daily dose of one of them for 6 days after recirculation, and the polyamine contents, activities of ornithine and S-adenosylmethionine decarboxylases (ODC and SAM-DC), and light microscopic findings of the hippocampus were evaluated. The hippocampal putrescine (PT) levels of the control gerbils treated with saline (STGr), markedly increased after OBC7, showing a peak level at 24 h after recirculation. The peak PT level was reduced in DFMO treated gerbils (DTCr) and in MGBG treated gerbils (MTGr). And 7 days after recirculation, the PT level of DTGr was decreased to about 75% of the PT level in the sham operated group (nonTGr) and to about 55% of the STGr level, respectively. The hippocampal spermidine (SD) level of STGr tended to decline, showing the lowest value at 8 h after recirculation. But the spermidine (SD) level of DTGr was somewhat higher at 8 h after OBC7 than those of STGr and MTGr The hippocampal spermine (SM) levels of all the experimental groups were little changed for 7 days after OBC. OBC7 markedly increased the hippocampal ODC activity. reaching a maximum (about 3 times higher than preischemic level) at 8 h and rapidly recovered to the control value by 24 h in STGr gerbils, and the OBC7-induced increase of ODC activity was significantly attenuated by DFMO or MGBG treatment. Whereas OBC7 induced a rapid decrease of the hippocampal SAMDC activity follwed by gradual recovery to the preischemic level, and the decrease of the SAMDC activity was slightly attenuated by DFMO or MGBG treatment. 7 Days after OBC7 the histological finding of the hippocampal complex stained with cresyl violet showed an extensive delayed neuronal damage in the CA1 region and to a lesser extent, in the dentate gyrus, sparing the CA3 region. And the neuronal death was aggevated by DFMO but significantly attenuated by MGBG. The immunochemical reactivity of hippocampus to anti-GFAP antibody was significantly increased in the CA1 region and to a lesser extent, in the dentate gyrus 7 days after OBC7, but was little changed in the CA3. And the increase of the anti-GFAP immunoreactivity was moderately enhanced by DFMO and significantly suppressed by MGBG. These results suggest that the polyamine metabolism may play a modulatory role in the ischemic brain damage.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.156-160
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• 1997

The monoamine oxidase (MAO, EC 1.4.3.4) plays a central role in the metabolism of many amines including the neurotransmitter monoamines. MAO is a flavoprotein found exclusively in the mitochondrial outer membrane, occuring in the MAO-A and MAO-B subtypes. MAO-A deaminates serotonin and noradrenaline much better than phenethylamine (PEA) or benzylamine (BA), and is preferentially inhibited by clorgyline, whereas MAO-B prefers PEA and BA as substrates and is preferentially inhibited by deprenyl. MAO inhibitors were among the first drugs used in the treatment of depression, and it is known to be the inhibition of MAO-A which is important for the antidepressant effect of MAO inhibitors. For the purpose of evaluating MAO inhibitory activities from natural resources, three kinds of edible mushrooms were screened by tracing the inhibitory activities against rat brain mitochondrial MAO-A, utilizing serotonin as a substrate and rat liver mitochondrial MAO-B utilizing benzylamine as a substrate. Among the tested mushrooms, Ganoderma lucidium and Lentinus edodes showed the weak inhibitory activities against MAO-B.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.1256-1266
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• 2004

2-Bromooctanoic acid (2-BrOA) is known to block the formation of polyhydroxyalkanoic acid (PHA) in Pseudomonasfluorescens BM07 without any influence on the cell growth when grown on fructose, but it inhibits the cell growth when grown on octanoate (OA) (Lee et al., Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 67: 4963- 4974, 2001). We investigated the role of 2-BrOA in the PHA synthesis of the bacterium grown with mixtures of fructose and fatty acids. OA, 11­phenoxyundecanoic acid (1 1-POU), and 5-phenylvaleric acid (5-PV) were selected as model substrates. When supplemented with 50 mM fructose, all these carboxylic acids suppressed the formation of PHA from fructose, however, the ~-oxidation coenzyme A monomers derived from the carboxylic acids were efficiently polymerized, but the conversion yield [(mol of carboxylate substrate converted into PHA)/(mol of carboxylate substrate in the feed)] was low (e.g., maximally $\~53\%$ for 5 mM 11-POU). Addition of 2-BrOA (up to 5 mM) to the mixed carbon sources raised the conversion yield sensitively and effectively only at low levels of the acid substrates (e.g., 2 mM 1 1-POU or 5 mM OA): For instance, $100\%$ of 2 mM ll-POU were converted into PHA in the presence of 5 mM 2-BrOA, whereas only $\~10\%$ of the 1 1-POU were converted in the absence of 2-BrOA. However, at highly saturated suppressing levels (e.g., 5 mM ll-POU), 2-BrOA inhibitor showed no significant additional effect on the conversion ($60- 70\%$ conversion irrespective of 2-BrOA level). The existence of competitive and compensative relationship between 2­BrOA and all the carboxylic acid substrates used may indicate 'Present address: Section on Brain Physiology and Metabolism, Bldg. 10, Rm. 6N202, National Institute on Agmg, National Institute of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, U.S.A. that all the acid substrate-derived inhibiting species bind to the same site as the 2-BrOA inhibiting species does. We, therefore, suggest that 2-BrOA can be used for efficiently increasing the yield of conversion of expensive substituted fatty acids into PHA and then substituted 3-hydroxyacids by hydrolyzing it.

• Journal of Genetic Medicine
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.131-135
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• 2008

Classical galactosemia is an autosomal recessive disorder of galactose metabolism, caused by a deficiency of the enzyme galactose-1-phosphate uridyltransferase (GALT). Buildup of galactose-1-phosphate is toxic at high levels and can damage the liver, brain, eyes, and other vital organs. The case presented here was that of an 11-day-old female infant who had elevated galatose levels upon initial neonatal screening test with persistent cholestatic jaundice, coagulopathy, and hepatomegaly. The patient was transferred due to aggravation of clinical symptoms including bleeding and jaundice. She had a delayed galactose free diet because of an inappropriate diagnosis. We quickly provided her with a lactose/galactose-restricted diet as per her final diagnosis. Clinical and laboratory results were improved after a few days of treatment. For confirmatory testing for classical galactosaemia, we simultaneously analyzed for GALT enzyme activity and allele-specific PCR/fragments for seven mutations and two polymorphisms in the GALT gene. We were able to find several GALT-deficient and compound heterozygous mutations of the GALT gene.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.83-94
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• 1998

Objectives : Phencyclidine(PCP) or PCP-like substances such as ketamine have been known to rekindle the cognitive dysfunction in schizophrenia. The aims of this study were to identify whether PCP-like substances can produce cognitive deficit in schizophrenia, to discuss relation with aging process, and finally to speculate underlying neurochemical mecha-nisms by various drug responses. Methods : In experiment I, radial maze tests were done in 24 Sprague-Dawley rats for 3 days to get baseline data. Being divided into 4 groups(6 rats respectively) of normal aged, normal adult controls, atropine-treated and ketamine-treated, the radial maze tests were repeated on every week for 6 weeks, and then the rats were sacrificed by intracardiac perfusion with phosphate-buffered 10% formaldehyde solution for histology. The brain specimen was stained with hematoxylin-eosin to count cells in the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus. In experiment II, radial maze tests were done for 48 rats before any drug treatment and only after ketamine administration. Thereafter, haloperidol, bromocriptine, clonidine, nimodipine, tacrine, valproic acid, naloxone and fluoxetine were intramuscularly injected on every other day in addition to ketamine. Radial maze tests were repeated on every week for 6 weeks, and then rats were prepared by the same procedure for histology. Results : 1) Reaction times of radial maze tests of atropine-treated rats were significantly prolonged than those of normal aged(p<0.05) or normal adult controls(p<0.05). Cell numbers of prefrontal cortex & hippocampus in ketamine-treated rats were significantly reduced than those in normal aged (p<0.05) or normal adult controls(p<0.005). 2) Reduced cell numbers by ketamine became significantly raised by tacrine administration in prefrontal cortex & hippocampus(p<0.05), while there were no significant changes on radial maze tests. Cell numbers also tended to be raised by nimodipine, fluoxetine and haloperidol administration. Conclusions : In conclusion, the visuospatial memory disorders in ketamine-induced psychotic rats might be partly asso-ciated with aging process. Furthermore, the responses to the various drugs suggested cholinergic system might have an important role in the neurochemical mechanism of the cognitive dysfunction in ketamine-induced psychosis. Otherwise, calcium metabolism as well as serotonergic and dopaminergic systems seemed to be possibly related.