Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

S C Dilsaver

Publications and source records attributed to S C Dilsaver.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

Selective antagonistic effects of exposure to bright light on the hypothermic action of ethanol.

Flinders Sensitive and Resistant Lines of rats, which are differentially sensitive to the hypothermic effects of both muscarinic agonists and ethanol, were exposed to full spectrum artificial bright light for eight days, because exposure to bright light has been shown to blunt hypothermic responses to muscarinic agonists. There was a selective blunting of the hypothermic effects of ethanol, but no significant change in the intoxicating effects of ethanol, as measured by evaluation of the righting reflex. The selective effect of exposure to bright light on the hypothermic actions of ethanol suggests that bright light may be modifying the function of only a limited number of brain regions, including the hypothalamus.

Alcoholic Intoxication↗

Partial sleep deprivation to prevent 48-hour mood cycles.

The course of a patient with the phenomenon of 48-h mood cycles, including her response to medication and to systematic partial sleep deprivation, is described. She had only a partial response to tranylcypromine alone. Partial sleep deprivation during the second half of alternate nights successfully prevented depressive mood cycles. Three to four weeks after discontinuing tranylcypromine she lost her ability to sustain this regimen. This case demonstrates an interaction between antidepressant medication and partial sleep deprivation in the prevention of depressive mood cycles.

Combined Modality Therapy↗

Carbamazepine treatment of psychosis. Implications for patient welfare and nursing practice.

1. The antiseizure medication carbamazepine, when used to treat psychosis, does not produce the same side effects that appear as problematic in neuroleptic treatment, most notably tardive dyskinesia. 2. Carbamazepine has useful sedating, antianxiety, and antidepressant properties that make it an effective treatment for manic psychosis. 3. Nursing actions include assisting psychiatry in establishing and maintaining effective carbamazepine treatment, ensuring safe treatment, enhancing the patient's self-care agency, and facilitating research regarding the effects of carbamazepine treatment.

Activities of Daily Living↗

Pharmacological responsiveness of winter depression.

Seasonal affective disorders (SADs) are disturbances of mood bearing a fixed relationship to season. Wintertime depression is the most widely accepted form of SAD. Full-spectrum, bright artificial light is the standard treatment for this syndrome. Tranylcypromine was effective in the treatment of 14 patients meeting both the National Institute of Mental Health and DSM-III-R criteria for winter depression. The average patient experienced a 91 percent reduction in depressive symptoms within 3 to 4 weeks of the initiation of this treatment. Desipramine initially appeared to be an effective treatment for winter depression. Eight patients started treatment with desipramine in October or November. One patient was unresponsive, and 8 patients appeared to be responsive but relapsed in the following 2 to 4 months. Twenty-five patients were subsequently treated with bupropion. One patient was unresponsive to bupropion, but the others experienced a substantial reduction in symptoms. Chronobiologic properties that might explain or predict the effectiveness of drugs used to treat winter depression are discussed.

Adult↗

Winter depression responds to an open trial of tranylcypromine.

Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a disturbance of mood bearing a fixed relationship to season. Winter depression is characterized by the onset of a depressive syndrome in the fall or winter and spontaneous remission in the spring, this condition responds to full-spectrum, bright artificial light. In the first study assessing responsiveness of winter depression to a standard pharmacologic treatment for depression, the authors found that 14 patients meeting National Institute of Mental Health criteria for winter depression responded to treatment with tranylcypromine.

Adult↗

The mental status examination.

The mental status examination is a diagnostic procedure used to detect changes in or abnormalities of orientation, intellectual function (such as language, memory and calculation), thought content, judgment, and mood or affect in patients with medical, neurologic or psychiatric conditions that may affect brain function. The mental status examination can also be used to localize lesions in the brain. Much of the information needed for a mental status assessment can be obtained during a routine history. The elements of the examination depend on a patient's clinical presentation and cultural and educational background.

Affect↗

The naturally occurring rhythm of blues: winter depression.

Winter depression, a form of seasonal affective disorder, is a common condition that increases in prevalence in northern areas and in regions with a high proportion of overcast fall and winter days. Parts of Ohio are high-risk areas given the high percentage of overcast days. Winter depression is marked by the onset of recurrent episodes of major depression each fall or winter which spontaneously remit in the spring. The depressive syndrome is often characterized by sadness, anxiety, decreased involvement in work and social activities, increased appetite, carbohydrate craving, weight gain, hypersomnia and psychomotor retardation. This syndrome often responds to treatment with two to six hours per day of full-spectrum bright artificial light. The efficacy of drugs in the treatment of this condition is now being studied at The Ohio State University. A monoamine oxidase inhibitor is effective.

Adolescent↗

Potentiation of oxotremorine-induced hypothermia by alaproclate in PCA lesioned and non-lesioned rats.

Stimulation of muscarinic cholinergic receptors with the highly potent and selective receptor agonist oxotremorine produced hypothermia in rats. Alaproclate, a purported selective serotonergic reuptake inhibitor, potentiated this response. Destruction of central presynaptic serotonergic terminals with the potent cytotoxin p-chloroamphetamine (PCA) failed to attenuate the hypothermic response to oxotremorine in alaproclate-pretreated animals. These results could be taken to suggest that alaproclate may act, at least in part, via a non-serotonergic mechanism to potentiate the oxotremorine-induced hypothermic response.

Alanine↗

Chronic injections of saline produce subsensitivity to nicotine.

The routine handling of rats and the injection of saline is a stressor. The authors report that chronic twice daily injections of normal saline (1 ml/kg IP) for 14 days produced subsensitivity to the hypothermic effects of nicotine (1 ml/kg IP). The weekly injection of nicotine (1 mg/kg IP) does not produce this effect. The investigators propose that their findings reflect the effect of chronic stress on a nicotinic mechanism. Lithium, desipramine, fluoxetine, and amitriptyline also alter the thermic response to systemically injected nicotine. A nicotinic mechanism(s) may be involved in the neurobiology of chronic stress, actions of antidepressants, and conceivably the pathophysiology of depression.

Animals↗

Chronic restraint stress does not sensitize a muscarinic mechanism.

Describing the neurobiological changes which may explain the link between chronic stressors and the epidemiological association of recurrent episodes of depression in patients with unipolar or bipolar illness is a goal of psychiatric research. Disorders of mood may involve hyperactivity of central muscarinic mechanisms. Chronic forced swim stress and footshock produce supersensitivity to a muscarinic agonist. Chronic prolonged restraint is a severe stressor for the rat and activates the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. This report presents data suggesting that this stressor does not, unlike forced swim stress and footshock, enhance sensitivity to the hypothermic effects of a muscarinic agonist.

Animals↗

Chronic treatment with amitriptyline produces subsensitivity to the hypothermic effects of yohimbine.

1. Two but not one week of treatment with amitriptyline (AMI) produces subsensitivity to the hypothermic effects of the alpha 2 antagonist yohimbine. 2. Subsensitivity persisted for the three weeks during which it was measured following the discontinuation of AMI. 3. Two weeks of twice daily injections of saline did not alter the thermic response to this agent. 4. The results support other data indicating tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) subsensitize alpha 2 mediated thermic changes and are consistent with reports that TCAs down-regulate alpha 2 receptors.

Amitriptyline↗

Chronic treatment with amitriptyline produces subsensitivity to the hypothermic effects of clonidine.

1. Supersensitivity or up-regulation of presynaptic alpha 2-adrenoceptors may be involved in the pathogenesis of depression. 2. The authors used a thermoregulation paradigm to test the hypothesis that chronic treatment with a tricyclic antidepressant amitriptyline (AMI) produces subsensitivity to the hypothermic effects of the alpha 2 agonist clonidine. 3. Treatment with amitriptyline produced blunting of the hypothermic response to clonidine. 4. Subsensitivity persisted for at least 21 days--that point after the discontinuation of the tricyclic at which the animals were last challenged with clonidine. 5. These findings are consistent with previous reports that tricyclic antidepressants produce subsensitivity of alpha 2 adrenoceptors.

Amitriptyline↗