Lack of relationship between estrus cycle and effect of ethanol in mice.
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Animals↗
Biomedical subjects
J Masur
Publications and source records attributed to J Masur.
Interference by a nonpharmacological factor on the action of psychoactive drugs in rats. A comparative study.
The interaction of 5 psychoactive drugs (ethanol, chlorpromazine, diazepam, pentobarbital and THC) with a nonpharmacological factor was studied in rats. The nonpharmacological variable studied was the level of motivation to overcome the depressant action of the drugs administered. Rats highly motivated to perform a learned escape response (high intensity footshocks during training) required significantly higher doses of ethanol to become impaired when compared to low motivated animals (low intensity footshocks during training). However, the level of motivation did not interact with the action of the other 4 drugs, as the doses required to impair the escape response were the same in the low and high motivated rats. The greater susceptibility of ethanol to a nonpharmacological factor when compared to the other psychoactive drugs is discussed.
Animals↗
Lack of effect of intravenous hypertonic glucose on the intensity of alcohol intoxication induced experimentally and observed in patients of an emergency room.
In the present paper, two experiments are performed to test the efficacy of the intravenous administration of hypertonic glucose (25 or 50%) in alcoholic intoxication. In a first experiment, 10 healthy, nonstarved volunteers, received 15 min after the ingestion of 1.0 g/kg alcohol, 40 ml of 25% glucose i.v., the same volume of 0.9% NaCl or no injection. According to evaluations performed at several time intervals up to 2 h after alcohol ingestion, no difference among the 3 conditions was observed either in the intensity of alcohol intoxication or on blood alcohol levels. In a second experiment, blood glucose and alcohol levels were evaluated in 80 alcoholized patients in an emergency room. The mean glycemic value was 94 mg/100 ml. No difference was found by comparing this value with that presented by nonalcoholized patients. The 80 patients were distributed in two groups of 40 each: one of them was intravenously administered 40 ml of glucose 50% while the other was injected with saline. About 20-30 min later the patients of both groups were clinically evaluated by the physician on duty, being considered equally improved regardless of the injection. The self-evaluation by the patients provided similar results.
Adult↗
Validation of the "CAGE" alcoholism screening test in a Brazilian psychiatric inpatient hospital setting.
A Portuguese version of the CAGE alcoholism screening test was administered to 68 alcoholic and 46 non-alcoholic male inpatients in a Psychiatric Hospital in São Paulo. The Portuguese text of the 14 questions, 4 of which were CAGE questions, is provided. When a score of two positive responses to any of the 4 CAGE questions was taken as a positive test result, the sensitivity of the test was 88% and the specificity was 83%. Increasing the cut-off point to 3 positive responses decreased the sensitivity to 81% and increased the specificity to 94%. The importance of cut-off points is discussed. The similarity between our data and results obtained with the English language CAGE test in other countries suggests that the CAGE questionnaire could be a useful tool for screening alcoholics in Brazil. The need for further validation studies in non-hospital populations is discussed.
Adolescent↗
Does hypothermia play a relevant role in the glycemic alterations induced by ethanol?
The potential of ethanol-induced hypothermia on the glycemic alterations induced by this drug were evaluated. In Experiment 1 ambient temperature was manipulated. After 4.0 g/kg of ethanol blood glucose levels and body temperature were assessed in fed or 48 hr starved rats at either 21 degrees C or 28 degrees C room temperature. Hyper or hypoglycemia was observed depending on both the feeding condition and the environmental temperature. In Experiment 2, this hypothesis was tested by determining if rats tolerant to the thermic effects of ethanol would show a decreased glycemic response. The results support this assumption.
Animals↗
Catatonic behavior induced by haloperidol, increased by retesting and elicited without drug in rats.
The catatonogenic action of haloperidol in rats was assessed through different experimental procedures. In the first experiment the animals were injected intraperitoneally with haloperidol, 0.4-4.0 mg/kg, and then divided into two subgroups. The first group was tested for catatonic behavior from 20 min up to 4 h after the injection, while the second was only tested throughout the last 3- to 4-hour period. In the second experiment, animals received, either 0.2 or 0.6 mg haloperidol/kg 3 times at 15-day intervals, and were tested for catatonic behavior from 20 to 240 min after the injection. 15 days after the last drug session, the same animals were injected with distilled water and then tested for catatonia. The results showed that retesting drastically influenced the amount of catatonic behavior and that, when under no drug, the rats still displayed catatonia. The data suggest a learning component of this behavior.
Animals↗
Development and reacquisition of tolerance to ethanol administered pre- and post trial to rats.
The development of tolerance to the disruptive effects of ethanol on bar-pressing behavior was studied in rats by exposing them to four cycles of drug administration intercalated by 34-day drug-free periods. A negative correlation was obtained between the successive cycles and the number of sessions required for the rats to reach the criterion of tolerance. Also studied was the possible difference in the rate of development of tolerance in the four cycles when ethanol was administered before or after the task. One group of rats was required to perform the response under the influence of ethanol, while other group received the drug 90 min after the bar-pressing sessions. At the first cycle the group which performed under drug action developed tolerance more rapidly than the group which received ethanol after the task.
Animals↗
Blood glucose and body temperature alterations induced by ethanol in rats submitted to different levels of food deprivation.
The effects of 1.0, 3.0 and 5.0 g/kg of ethanol on blood glucose levels and body temperature were examined in rats submitted to either acute food deprivation (24 or 48 hr), chronic starvation, or to both chronic plus acute food deprivation. The results show that: (a) 3.0 and 5.0 g/kg produced either an increase or a decrease of glucose levels depending on the state of fasting; (b) rats not deprived of food presented hyperglycemia while being hypothermic; (c) a marked hypothermia was present when no substantial alterations in glycemia were observed; and (d) in cases where hypoglycemia and hypothermia occurred, the fall in body temperature paralleled or preceded the decrease in glucose levels.
Animals↗
Chronic starvation impairs the effect of depressant drugs on CNS of rats.
Rats starved for 70 days, i.e. receiving 60% of food ingested by control rats, showed a shortened sleeping time after ethanol and pentobarbital and a reduction of the catatonic response to haloperidol. Conversely, acute 24 h food deprivation increased barbiturate and ethanol sleeping time but did not effect the catatogenic action of haloperidol.
Animals↗
Nonmedical treatment of alcoholism with emetic drugs and disulfiram in Brazil.
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Adult↗
Alcohol consumption during pregnancy and newborn outcome: a study in Brazil.
Neonates born to mothers of low socioeconomic status were examined to assess the intrauterine effects of alcohol. Mothers' alcohol use during pregnancy ranged from abstention to heavy drinking. The newborns were randomly selected and examined without knowledge of the drinking history of the mothers. Likewise, the mothers' interviewers had no information about the clinical condition of the infants. Anthropometric measures showed the nutritional states of the mothers to be uniformly distributed among those mothers graded from abstainers (grade 0) to heavy drinkers (grade IV). Six of the neonates born to 26 heavy drinkers, four born to 103 mothers graded as I, II and III drinkers and 3 born to 50 abstainers were considered to show signs of prenatal effects of alcohol, characterized by small size (weight and/or height) for gestational age, microcephaly and short palpebral fissures. The number of such infants was significantly greater among the neonates born to heavy drinking mothers.
Adult↗
Gender differences in open-field behavior as a function of age.
Male and female rats were observed in an open field at 30, 45, 60, 90, and 120 days of age. Thirty- and 45-day-old rats of both genders presented similar defecation, ambulation, and rearing scores. From 60 days on the male rats showed higher defecation scores and less ambulation and rearing than did the females. The gender difference observed in the adult rats reflected a decrease of defecation by females and a decrease of ambulation and rearing by males when compared to the earlier ages.
Aging↗
Developmental, behavioral, and pharmacological characteristics of rat offspring from mothers receiving ethanol during gestation or lactation.
Ethanol solution (10 or 20% v/v) sweetened with .4% saccharin was given to female rats as the only source of fluid. In the 1st experiment the administration was throughout the gestation period. Developmental, behavioral, and pharmacological tests were performed with the offspring. Litters born from females of the experimental group showed a decrease in the mortality rate induced by pentylenetetrazol, in comparison with either pair-fed controls or an ad libitum control group. No other differences were detected. In the 2nd experiment the administration was throughout the lactation period. Pups raised by lactating mothers receiving ethanol showed a significant decrease in weight gain. Also, the maternal behavior of the ethanol-treated mothers, measured by nest-building and retrieval activities, showed a significant decrease when compared to pair-fed controls.
Alcohol Drinking↗
The excitatory component of ethanol in mice: a chronic study.
The effects of chronic administration of initially depressant, ineffective and excitatory doses of ethanol on the locomotor activity of mice was studied. The results showed that (1) an excitatory effect of ethanol is observed after tolerance develops to its depressant action; (2) the effect induced by an initially excitatory dose of ethanol became more pronounced with chronic exposure to the drug; and (3) tolerance to the excitatory effect was not reached after 60 days of ethanol treatment.
Animals↗
Sex differences in the response to apomorphine in rats.
The response of male and female rats to the hypothermic and verticalization effect (climbing behavior) induced by different doses of apomorphine was studied. A clear sex difference was observed, males showing more verticalization than females. Conversely the females showed a greater decrease in body temperature than males. The verticalization response was also studied in rats of both sexes at seven different ages, varying from 15 to 100 days. At the earlier ages, both groups presented low levels of verticalization. Mature males (60-100 days of age) increased the verticalization response to apomorphine.
Aging↗
Comparison of the acute effects of sugar cane distillates and ethanol in mice.
The acute effects of 4 different brands of the most popular Brazilian alcoholic beverage, the so called "cachaças" (distilled product of sugar cane), were measured through the loss of the righting reflex and the rotarod test. The effects induced by the cachaças were greater than it could be predicted through the ethanol content alone.
Alcoholic Beverages↗
[Prevalence of patients with indications of alcoholism confined in a general hospital. Relevance of the detection method].
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Adult↗