Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

K Varga

Publications and source records attributed to K Varga.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1996

Melanocortin antagonists define two distinct pathways of cardiovascular control by alpha- and gamma-melanocyte-stimulating hormones.

Melanocortin peptides and at least two subtypes of melanocortin receptors (MC3-R and MC4-R) are present in brain regions involved in cardiovascular regulation. In urethane-anesthetized rats, unilateral microinjection of alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (MSH) into the medullary dorsal-vagal complex (DVC) causes dose-dependent (125-250 pmol) hypotension and bradycardia, whereas gamma-MSH is less effective. The effects of alpha-MSH are inhibited by microinjection to the same site of the novel MG4-R/MC3-R antagonist SHU9119 (2-100 pmol) but not naloxone (270 pmol), whereas the similar effects of intra-DVC injection of beta-endorphin (1 pmol) are inhibited by naloxone and not by SHU9119. Hypotensive and bradycardic responses to electrical stimulation of the arcuate nucleus also are inhibited by ipsilateral intra-DVC microinjection of SHU9119. gamma-MSH and ACTH(4-10), but not alpha-MSH, elicit dose-dependent (0.1-12.5 nmol) pressor and tachycardic effects, which are much more pronounced after intracarotid than after intravenous administration. The effects of gamma-MSH (1.25 nmol) are not inhibited by the intracarotid injection of SHU9119 (1.25-12.5 nmol) or the novel MC3-R antagonist SHU9005 (1.25-12.5 nmol). We conclude that the hypotension and bradycardia elicited by the release of alpha-MSH from arcuate neurons is mediated by neural melanocortin receptors (MC4-R/MC3-R) located in the DVC, whereas the similar effects of beta-endorphin, a peptide derived from the same precursor, are mediated by opiate receptors at the same site. In contrast, neither MC3-R nor MC4-R is involved in the centrally mediated pressor and tachycardic actions of gamma-MSH, which, likely, are mediated by an as yet unidentified receptor.

Animals↗
PubMed1996

Estimation of impurity profiles of drugs and related materials Part 15. Identification of minor impurities in cimetidine.

Besides several known impurities in cimetidine, two additional compounds at levels below 0.1% were detected by ion-pair reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The impurities were isolated from crude cimetidine using normal-phase preparative HPLC. 1H and 13C NMR and mass spectrometric investigations revealed the structures of the impurities to be 2,5-bis[(N'-cyano-N"-methyl)guanidinoethylthiomethyl]-4-methylimid azole (VII) and 1,8-bis[(N'-cyano-N"-methyl)guanidino]-3,6-dithiaoctane (VIII). These structures were verified by synthesis of the impurities and comparison of the spectra and chromatographic (HPLC and TLC) retention data of the isolated and synthesized materials.

Anti-Ulcer Agents↗
PubMed1996

Inhibition of exocytotic noradrenaline release by presynaptic cannabinoid CB1 receptors on peripheral sympathetic nerves.

1. Activation of CB1 receptors by plant cannabinoids or the endogenous ligand, anandamide, causes hypotension via a sympathoinhibitory action in anaesthetized rats. In mouse isolated vas deferens, activation of CB1 receptors inhibits the electrically evoked twitch response. To determine if these effects are related to presynaptic inhibition of noradrenaline (NA) release, we examined the effects of delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol (delta 9-THC), anandamide and the CB1 antagonist, SR141716A, on exocytotic NA release in rat isolated atria and vasa deferentia. 2. In isolated atria and vasa deferentia preloaded with [3H]-NA, electrical field stimulation caused [3H]-NA release, which was abolished by tetrodotoxin 0.5 microM and concentration-dependently inhibited by delta 9-THC or anandamide, 0.3-10 microM. The inhibitory effect of delta 9-THC and anandamide was competitively antagonized by SR 141716A, 1-10 microM. 3. Tyramine, 1 microM, also induced [3H]-NA release, which was unaffected by tetrodotoxin, delta 9-THC or anandamide in either atria or vasa deferentia. 4. CB1 receptor mRNA is present in the superior cervical ganglion, as well as in whole brain, cerebellum, hypothalamus, spleen, and vas deferens and absent in medulla oblongata and atria, as demonstrated by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. There was no evidence of the presence of CB1A receptor mRNA in ganglia, brain, or cerebellum. These results suggest that activation of presynaptic CB1 receptors located on peripheral sympathetic nerve terminals mediate sympathoinhibitory effects in vitro and in vivo.

Animals↗
PubMed1996

alpha-2-Adrenergic activation of proopiomelanocortin-containing neurons in the arcuate nucleus causes opioid-mediated hypotension and bradycardia.

Treatment of rats for 4 days with alpha-methyldopa, 200 mg/kg/day i.p., increases steady state levels of proopiomelanocortin (POMC) mRNA in the mediobasal hypothalamus, as measured by DNA excess solution hybridization. The increase is prevented by parallel treatment with yohimbine, 2 mg/kg/day i.p., but not by naltrexone, 2 mg/kg/day i.p. Treatment with the peripheral vasodilator hydralazine, 2 mg/kg/day, does not affect POMC mRNA levels. In situ hybridization histochemistry with a cRNA probe for POMC indicates that POMC-containing cells are located within the confines of the arcuate nucleus both in control and in alpha-methyldopa-treated rats, and confirms the increase in POMC mRNA in the latter. Microinjection of 2 micrograms of alpha-methylnorepinephrine unilaterally into the arcuate nucleus of urethane-anesthetized rats causes hypotension and bradycardia, which can be inhibited by 200 ng of yohimbine microinjected into the same site, or by 100 ng l-naloxone microinjected into the ipsilateral nucleus tractus solitarii, but not into the arcuate nucleus. These findings are interpreted to indicate that activation of alpha 2-adrenergic receptors located on POMC-containing neurons in the arcuate nucleus causes beta-endorphin release and stimulation of opiate receptors in the NTS, which results in hypotension and bradycardia, and that this mechanism contributes to the hypotensive action of alpha-methyldopa.

Adrenergic alpha-Agonists↗
PubMed1996

Mechanism of the hypotensive action of anandamide in anesthetized rats.

We studied the effects of the endogenous cannabinoid ligand anandamide on blood pressure, single unit activity of barosensitive neurons in the rostral ventrolateral medulla, and postganglionic splanchnic sympathetic nerve discharge in urethane-anesthetized rats. In rats with an intact baroreflex, an intravenous bolus of 4 mg/kg anandamide caused a triphasic blood pressure response: transient hypotension, followed by a brief pressor and more prolonged depressor phase. Anandamide evoked a "primary" increase in neuronal firing coincident with its pressor effect and a "secondary," baroreflex-mediated rise coincident with its depressor effect at both sites. Pretreatment of rats with phentolamine or trimethaphan did not inhibit either the pressor response or the primary increase in splanchnic nerve discharge elicited by anandamide. In barodenervated rats, electrical stimulation of the rostral ventrolateral medulla increased blood pressure and splanchnic nerve discharge. Anandamide treatment blunted the rise in blood pressure without affecting the increase in splanchnic nerve discharge. Anandamide did not affect the rise in blood pressure in response to an intravenous bolus dose of phenylephrine. The results indicate that (1) the brief pressor response to anandamide is not sympathetically mediated, and (2) the prolonged hypotensive response to anandamide is not initiated in the central nervous system, in ganglia, or at postsynaptic adrenergic receptors but is due to a presynaptic action that inhibits norepinephrine release from sympathetic nerve terminals in the heart and vasculature.

Anesthesia↗
PubMed1995

Novel antagonist implicates the CB1 cannabinoid receptor in the hypotensive action of anandamide.

In anaesthetised rats, the endogenous cannabinoid anandamide has potent cardiovascular effects that include a brief pressor effect and a more prolonged depressor response. The depressor response is attenuated after transection of the cervical spinal cord or blockade of alpha-adrenergic receptors by phentolamine, and is dose-dependently inhibited by a selective antagonist of the CB1 cannabinoid receptor. The pressor component is not affected by any of these interventions. This suggests that the depressor response is due to inhibition of sympathetic tone mediated by CB1 receptors, whereas the pressor component is due to a peripheral action that does not involve the same receptors or the sympathetic nervous system.

Anesthesia↗
PubMed1994

Parallel application of the experiential analysis technique with subject and hypnotist: a new possibility for measuring interactional synchrony.

The Parallel Experiential Analysis Technique (PEAT), a new method for gathering data on the subjective experiences of both the hypnotist and the subject, is described. The PEAT is an interactional modification of the Experiential Analysis Technique (EAT). Procedural details and methodological observations resulting from the modification of the EAT are discussed. Suggestions on how to characterize the phenomenology of the hypnotic interaction and to determine the degree of interactional synchrony on the subjective level between the hypnotist and subject are made.

Awareness↗
PubMed1994

Endogenous gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) mediates ethanol inhibition of vagally mediated reflex bradycardia elicited from aortic baroreceptors.

We have previously demonstrated that ethanol depresses baroreflex bradycardia by potentiating the similar action of endogenous gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in the medullary dorsal vagal complex. In the present study we examined the relative contribution of the sympathetic vs. the parasympathetic nervous system and aortic vs. carotid sinus baroreceptors in this effect. Depressor baroreflex responses were elicited in urethane-anesthetized male Sprague-Dawley rats by i.v. injection of graded bolus doses of phenylephrine or by electrical stimulation of the aortic nerve at different frequencies. Methyl-atropine (2 mg/kg i.v.) greatly attenuated, and bilateral cervical vagotomy completely eliminated, phenylephrine-induced reflex bradycardia, whereas propranolol (1 mg/kg i.v.) caused a moderate decrease in the reflex bradycardic response. Ethanol (1 g/kg i.v) did not influence the residual reflex bradycardia after methyl-atropine, but significantly decreased the residual reflex bradycardia after propranolol. Aortic nerve stimulation caused frequency-dependent hypotension, which was unaffected by methyl-atropine, and bradycardia, which was eliminated by methyl-atropine. Depletion of endogenous GABA by pretreatment of rats with 3-mercaptopropionate slightly increased the bradycardic response to aortic nerve stimulation and eliminated its susceptibility to inhibition by ethanol. Acute aortic nerve denervation moderately reduced the reflex bradycardic response to phenylephrine, which was no longer sensitive to inhibition by ethanol. These findings suggest that 1) ethanol inhibits baroreflex bradycardia but not hypotension, 2) the effect of ethanol is selective regarding both the afferent (aortic vs. carotid baroreceptors) and efferent limbs of the reflex (vagal vs. sympathetic) and 3) the effect of ethanol is mediated through endogenous GABA, probably at the level of the dorsal brainstem.

Animals↗
PubMed1993

[Long-term follow up study of children with celiac disease].

27 long term monitored coeliac children were assessed. The average length of follow-up was 6.4 years, the average age of the children was 11.5 years (ranging 6.3 to 20.1 years). Of the 11 boys and 16 girls 4 adolescents consume a normal diet, while another 2 are on semistrict diet, all 6 of them without any enteral symptoms. Out of the 15 children aged younger than 13 years 9 are on a strict diet. Semistrict diet has an impact on gliadin antibody levels respectively. Serum ferritin levels of those on a normal diet are significantly lower than those of the control group. Out of the 25 lactose breath tests 7 showed abnormal results, irrelevant both to the strictness of the diet and to gliadin antibody levels. In the view of weight and length percentiles there is no difference at present between those eating normal food and diet. Nevertheless, with regards to the risk of malignancy in coeliac disease the necessity of a strict diet must be stressed. In long term follow-up the levels of gliadin antibodies and of serum ferritin are of pathognostic importance.

Adolescent↗