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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to A W Wilson.
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Agents affecting serotonergic (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) function influence ethanol consumption in rats and primates. In the present study female Sprague-Dawley rats were trained to orally self-administer 8% ethanol (v/v) in a large operant chamber in a 60-min test period by a prandial drinking technique. The number of response, ethanol reinforcers (dipper deliveries), and ethanol consumption (g/kg) were measured following administration of the 5-HT1 A agonist 8-OH-DPAT (0.001 1.0 mg/kg, ip) 30 min prior to testing. Locomotor activity (LMA) was also measured to assess activity changes induced by 8-OH-DPAT. 8-OH-DPAT selectively reduced ethanol ingestion from 17.1 +/- 3.2 dipper deliveries under vehicle conditions to 6.6 +/- 3 at a dose of 0.1 mg/kg. Higher doses of 8-OH-DPAT (0.5 and 1.0 mg/kg) significantly reduced both ethanol ingestion and LMA. Lower doses of 0.001-0.01 mg/kg of 8-OH-DPAT were without effect on ethanol intake and maintained behavior. These results demonstrate that, under the present experimental conditions, the 5-HT1A receptor agonist 8-OH-DPAT reduced ethanol self-administration in the rat, and support a role for 5-HT1A receptors in the mediation of ethanol reinforcement.
A total of 563 white primigravid patients at Raigmore Hospital, Inverness, were recruited in a prospective study to examine the association between maternal height, shoe size, and the outcome of labour. There was a significantly increased caesarean section rate in women of short stature but no association between mode of delivery and shoe size. Babies born vaginally had heavier birth weights with increasing height and shoe size. Babies born by caesarean section were heavier than those born vaginally, but their birthweight showed no relation with either height or shoe size. Shoe size is not a useful clinical predictor for the probability of cephalopelvic disproportion, and, although maternal height is a better clinical guide to pelvic adequacy in labour, 80% of mothers less than 160 cm tall delivered vaginally. A well conducted trial of labour should be considered in all primigravid patients with cephalic presentation irrespective of maternal height or shoe size if no obstetric complication exists.