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Biomedical subjects

S Gershon

Publications and source records attributed to S Gershon.

At least 235 records · Page 13Linked to original sources
PubMed1975

Psychoactive drugs in mania. A controlled comparison of lithium carbonate, chlorpromazine, and haloperidol.

Lithium carbonate, haloperidol, and chlorpromazine hydrochloride were compared in a double-blind controlled study with severely ill hospitalized manics. Lithium carbonate and haloperidol produced a highly significant improvement of manic symptoms without sedation. Although producing considerable sedation, chlorpromazine did little to alter the underlying mania qualitatively. Qualitative differences between lithium carbonate and haloperidol indicate that, while haloperidol has a more dramatically rapid impact on behavior-motor activity, lithium carbonate acted more evenly on the entire manic picture, with total normalization realized during active treatment. The majority of lithium carbonate-treated patients met discharge criteria at study termination, but not the patients receiving either neuroleptic drug. The rating scales are not sensitive enough to monitor manic psychopathology; this accounts for the lack of statistically significant differences among drug groups at treatment termination, despite the widely disparate discharge rates.

Adult↗
PubMed1975

Cardiovascular actions of 2,5-dimethoxy-4-methylamphetamine (DOM) in the cat.

The cardiovascular effects of the psychotomimetic DOM were investigated in pentobarbital-anesthetized cats. DOM (1,2 and 4 mg/kg, i.v.) produced a rise in mean blood pressure accompanied by bradycardia. DOM (1 and 2 mg/kg, i.v.) also produced a contraction of the decentralized nictitating membrane. The duration of the pressor response to DOM was reduced in magnitude and duration by hexamethonium, by spinal section plus vagotomy, and by carotid sinus denervation plus vagotomy. Ventricular--cisternal perfusion of 20 mug DOM resulted in a slow developing hypertensive response. Methylsergid significantly attenuated the pressor response and the contraction of the nictitating membrane induced by i.v. DOM administration. The pressor response to DOM was not altered by phentolamine, propranolol or atropine and vagotomy. Bradycardia induced by DOM was antagonized by carotid sinus denervation plus vagotomy, hexamethonium, spinal sectioning plus vagotomy, and propranolol. Bradycardia induced by DOM is therefore a result of a reflex response to increased blood pressure. The present data thus indicate that the pressor response to DOM consists of two compents: a direct vascular effect mediated via the stimulation of serotonergic receptors; and a second pressor effect, mediated by the central nervous system.

DOM 2,5-Dimethoxy-4-Methylamphetamine↗
PubMed1975

Effects of acute cocaine treatment on the turnover of 5-hydroxytryptamine in the rat brain.

1. The effects of cocaine (20 mg/kg s.c.) on 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) turnover were examined in rats. 2. In vivo cocaine administration resulted in decreased turnover of 5-HT, as indicated by the decreased accumulation of 5-HT after pargyline administration and the decreased accumulation of 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) following probenecid injection. 3. A time-related decrease in 5-HIAA concentrations and a small fall in 5-HT concentrations in the whole brain were observed following the acute administration of cocaine hydrochloride (20 mg/kg). Tryptophan levels were found to be slightly decreased in the brain. 4. Enhanced reactivity, but neither stereotypy nor hyperthermia, was observed following cocaine injection (20 mg/kg). 5. It is concluded that cocaine inhibits the turnover of brain 5-HT and that this action of cocaine may be responsible for the differences in a number of pharmacological effects between cocaine and amphetamine.

Amphetamine↗
PubMed1975

Rebound phenomena in manic patients following physostigmine. Preliminary observations.

The authors have administered physostigmine intravenously to three hospitalized manic patients on a double-blind basis. All three individuals showed clinical change both during and after the physostigmine period, which can be clearly delineated into three distinct phases. The behavioral modifications occurring during the physostigmine run did not qualitatively alter the underlying mania. The authors focus on 'rebound' phenomena, or post-physostigmine changes, as a possible clinical index with which chemically to characterize the initial state of amine imbalance responsible for a given affective illness. The data are considered consistent with an adrenergic-dopaminergic-cholinergic balance hypothesis of affective disorders, and may provide a relevant link in understanding the interface or crossover between manic and schizo-affective illness.

Bipolar Disorder↗
PubMed1975

Cogwheel rigidity related to lithium maintenance.

Neurological examinations of 27 outpatients receiving lithium carbonate maintenance therapy for recurrent affective illness revealed that most of the patients receiving lithium for more than 8 months had cogwheel rigidity. The data suggest a positive correlation between the duration of lithium maintenance and the severity of cogwheeling. Intravenous administration of benztropine, an antiparkinsonian drug, did not abolish or significantly ameliorate this symptom.

Adult↗
PubMed1975

The influence of dietary iodine on lithium blood level, serum T4 and thyroid gland weight.

Lithium is both antithyroid and goitrogenic. The relationship between lithium and iodine has been assessed in rats fed diets containing different iodine content. Chronic lithium treatment caused increase in thyroid gland weight in animals on low and high iodine diets. A reciprocal relationship surfaced between serum lithium levels and dietary iodine content. Animals on low-iodine diet had lower serum lithium levels. The data support other evidence that lithium likely inhibits organification of iodine by a Wolff-Chaikoff-like effect.

Animals↗
PubMed1975

Differential effect of cannabinol and cannabidiol on THC-induced responses during abstinence in morphine-dependent rats.

The same dose of cannabinol (CBN) or cannabidiol (CBD) further increased the attenuation of precipitated abstinence signs observed in morphine-dependent rats that also received an acute dose of delta 9-THC. By contrast, rotational behavior (turning), which is observed concomitantly in THC-treated rats during morphine abstinence, was not increased by CBN, but was potentiated by CBD. These data illustrate differences between psychoinactive cannabinoids in their interaction with delta 9-THC that might be relevant to possible clinical use of Cannabis in narcotic detoxification.

Animals↗
PubMed1975

Attenuation of precipitated abstinence in methadone-dependent rats by delta 9-THC.

Racemic methadone hydrochloride was administered to male rats in daily subcutaneous injections of 10-30 mg/kg. Dependence, when assessed by naloxone challenge after 26 days, was quantitatively and qualitatively similar to that previously reported by us for rats implanted with a 75 mg morphine pellet for 72 hours. Abstinence scores in animals pretreated acutely with 10 mg/kg delta 9-THC one hour before naloxone were significantly less than those of a vehicle control group, and wet shakes and gastrointestinal signs of abstinence were blocked. These results extend previous observations of morphine abstinence attenuating properties of delta 9-THC to effects on animals dependent on methadone.

Animals↗
PubMed1975

Use of synthesis inhibitors in defining a role for biogenic amines during imipramine treatment in depressed patients.

Endogenously depressed patients who showed an antidepressant response to the tricyclic drug imipramine continued to show sustained well being after alpha-MPT was added whereas depression returned when small doses of PCPA were added for brief periods. In one patient the antidepressant response to imipramine occurred after pre- and continued treatment with alpha-MPT. Urinary excretion levels of MHPG in one of the patients studied longitudinally did not correspond to the direction of clinical affective state but did reflect anticipated changes during alpha-MPT treatment. Implications are that serotonergic mechanisms are likely involved in the anti-depressant effects of imipramine in man.

3-Methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylethanol↗
PubMed1975

The search for the dopamine receptor: tribulations.

In an attempt to identify specific binding to dopamine receptors the binding of 3H-pimozide to preparations of brain and to an artificial cellulose membrane was examined. Binding occurred rapidly, was pH and temperature dependent, and was displaceable by other neuroleptics. Displaceable binding was saturable at 5 X 10(-8) M pimozide. A weak correlation between IC50's for displacement of binding by drugs and their clinical potencies was observed. Displaceable binding of 3H-pimozide in different brain areas did not correlate with dopamine levels. The similarity of binding properties to brain and to artificial membrane suggests that these effects are a function of the physical-chemical properties of these drugs, and that these properties may be related to their clinical effect.

Chlorpromazine↗