• The Korean Journal of Pharmacology
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.189-193
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• 1993

Exposure of dissociated cultures from fetal rat brainstem to glutamate for upto 6 h decreased cellular contents of 5-hydroxytryptamine and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid in a concentration- and time-dependent manner. In addition, glutamate induced lactate dehydrogenase leakage. Tetrodotoxin did not block the effects induced by glutamate. MK-801 $(1{\mu}M)$, an N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) channel blocker, but not 6-cyano-2,3-dihydroxy-7-nitro-quinoxazoline $(CNQX;\;3{\mu}M)$, a non-NMDA receptor antagonist, blocked glutamate-induced effects, indicating that these glutamate-induced responses are mediated through NMDA receptors.

• The Korean Journal of Pharmacology
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.141-144
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• 1995

Serotonergic neurons in brainstem play important roles in the endogenous descending pain inhibitory system. To illucidate the involvement of glutamate receptors in the regulation of brainstem serotonergic neurons, we studied the effects of glutamate receptor agonists on 5-hydroxytryptamine(5-HT) release from cultured neurons of rat fetal (gestational age 14th day) brainstem. Cultured cells maintained for 10 days in vitro were stimulated for 30 minutes with agonists of glutamate receptor subtypes at 10-1,000 micromolar concentration. Glutamate (10-1,000 M) increased 5-HT release in a concentration-dependent manner. N-methyl-D-aspartic acid $(NMDA)(10-1,000\;{\mu}M)$ increased 5-HT release in a concentration-dependent manner. Non-NMDA receptor agonists, kainate and $AMPA(3-1,000\;{\mu}M)$ also concentration-dependently increased 5-HT release. These results suggest that both NMDA and non-NMDA receptors regulate 5-HT release from brainstem serotonergic neurons.

• The Korean Journal of Pharmacology
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.7-12
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• 1991

We measured the developmental increase of tyrosine hydroxylase(TH) activity and dopamine content with high performance liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection(HPLC-EC) in dissociated cultures of fetal rat brainstem(E14). TH activity and dopamine content increased progressively upto 7 days in vitro, when the effects of various drugs on the dopamine contents were studied. ${\alpha}-Methyl-p-tyrosine$, a TH inhibitor and NSD-1015, an inhibitor of aromatic amiono acid decarboxylase effectively depleted dopamine contents. Dopamine contents were depleted by reserpine and increased by pargyline. When cultures grown for 1 week in control medium were then exposed to tetrodotoxin$(0.1\;{\mu}M$) for 7 days, exposure to tetrodotoxin markedly decreased TH activity. All the above results indicate that dopamine metabolism in the cultered cells reflect reliably the property of brain dopamine metabolism. We suggest that measuring TH activity and dopamine content in brainstem culture with HPLC-EC can be useful tool in the study of pharmacology as well as toxicology of the central dopaminergic system.

• The Korean Journal of Pharmacology
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 1990

We established an in vitro system of central serotonergic neurons by culturing dissociated rat embryonic (El4) brainstem cells to 14 days in vitro and monitored the serotonergic neuronal growth by measuring 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) contents in the cells with hish performance liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection (HPLC-EC). We studied also tile effects of various drugs on the contents of 5-HT and 5-HIAA, confirming in vivo reports. The 5-HT content (13 ng/mg protein) and 5-HT turnover rate (17 pmol/mg protein/h) at 14 days in vitro were in good agreement with those reported in the adult rat brain. The 5-HT content was more easily depleted with p-chlorophenylalanine, a tryptophan hydroxylase inhibitor than with NSD 1015 (3-hydroxybenzylhydrazine), an aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase (AADC) inhibitor. Incubation of the cultures with tryptophan or 5-hydroxytryptophan increased the rate of serotonin formation implying that neither tryptophan hydroxylase nor AADC is saturated with its amino acid substrate in this in vitro system . The 5-HT content was depleted by reserpine. The 5-HT and 5-HIAA contents were increased and decreased, respectively, by monoamine oxidase inhibitors. All the above results indicate that the biochemical properties of the central serotonergic neurons in this culture system reflect reliably those of central serotonergic neurons in vivo. We suggest that measuring 5-HT and 5-HIAA contents in the primary cultured dissociated brainstem-cells with HPLC-EC is useful in the study of pharmacology as well as toxicolgy of the central serotonergic neurons.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.236-243
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• 2009

This study was performed to investigate the effects of aluminum sulfate administration on the brain tissues of old rats, when given at different concentrations. The experiment attempted to further ascertain whether aluminum exposure cause Alzheimer's disease. Seventy-five aged Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into five groups; a control group, 2 ppm aluminum sulfate group, 20 ppm aluminum sulfate group, 40 ppm aluminum sulfate group, and 200 ppm aluminum sulfate group, and were kept on the respective diets for 12 weeks. In order to understand the influence of aluminum on the brain, serum aluminum concentrations, phospholipid composition, and catecholamine concentrations were compared between the aluminum-treated groups and the normal group. According to the results, serum aluminum was higher in the aluminum sulfate-treated groups than in the normal group. Within the cortex, catecholamine concentrationes were significantly increased but cerebellum and brainstem tissue were significantly decreased, in the aluminum sulfate-treated groups compared to the normal group. For phospholipid composition, phosphatidyl inositol was significantly increased wherase phosphatidyl choline, phosphatidyl ethanolamine, and phosphatidyl serine were significantly decreased in the aluminum sulfate-treated groups versus the normal group. Based on the data, increased aluminum consumption in experimental animals causes increased serum aluminum levels and catecholamine variation. These phenomena are very similar to conditions of Alzherimer's disease. Therfore, the results of this experiment further suggest that aluminum cause Alzherimer's disease, coinciding with reports that aluminum is a cause of neurofibrilly tangles in the brain.