The neural basis of drug craving: An incentive-sensitization theory of addiction

A novel test procedure for antidepressants was designed in which a mouse is suspended by the tail from a lever, the movements of the animal being recorded. The total duration of the test (6 min) can be divided into periods of agitation and immobility. Several psychotropic drugs were studied: amphetamine, amitriptyline, atropine, desipramine, mianserin, nomifensine and viloxazine. Antidepressant drugs decrease the duration of immobility, as do psychostimulants and atropine. If coupled with measurement of locomotor activity in different conditions, the test can separate the locomotor stimulant doses from antidepressant doses. Diazepam increases the duration of immobility. The main advantages of this procedure are the use of a simple, objective test situation, the concordance of the results with the validated "behavioral despair" test from Porsolt and the sensitivity to a wide range of drug doses.

The tail suspension test: A new method for screening antidepressants in mice

A neurotrophic model for stress-related mood disorders.

A dopamine receptor has been characterized which differs in its pharmacology and signalling system from the D1 or D2 receptor and represents both an autoreceptor and a postsynaptic receptor The D3 receptor is localized to limbic areas of the brain, which are associated with cognitive, emotional and endocrine functions It seems to mediate some of the effects of antipsychotic drugs and drugs used against Parkinson's disease, that were previously thought to interact only with D2 receptors

Molecular cloning and characterization of a novel dopamine receptor (D3) as a target for neuroleptics.

The global burden of disease caused by group A streptococcus (GAS) is not known. We review recent population-based data to estimate the burden of GAS diseases and highlight deficiencies in the available data. We estimate that there are at least 517,000 deaths each year due to severe GAS diseases (eg, acute rheumatic fever, rheumatic heart disease, post-streptococcal glomerulonephritis, and invasive infections). The prevalence of severe GAS disease is at least 18.1 million cases, with 1.78 million new cases each year. The greatest burden is due to rheumatic heart disease, with a prevalence of at least 15.6 million cases, with 282,000 new cases and 233,000 deaths each year. The burden of invasive GAS diseases is unexpectedly high, with at least 663,000 new cases and 163,000 deaths each year. In addition, there are more than 111 million prevalent cases of GAS pyoderma, and over 616 million incident cases per year of GAS pharyngitis. Epidemiological data from developing countries for most diseases is poor. On a global scale, GAS is an important cause of morbidity and mortality. These data emphasise the need to reinforce current control strategies, develop new primary prevention strategies, and collect better data from developing countries.

https://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/laninf/PIIS1473-3099(05)70267-X.pdf

The global burden of group A streptococcal diseases

1. Mice when suspended by the tail will alternate between active attempts to escape and immobility. Immobility like that measured in the behavioral despair test is reduced by a wide variety of antidepressant agents. 2. The present paper describes a computerized version of this test (ITEMATIC-TST) which in addition to recording immobility measures the power of the movements. 3. Various tricyclic (amitriptyline, desipramine, imipramine), MAOI (clorgyline, moclobemide, nialamide, pargyline, toloxatone) and atypical antidepressants (bupropion, citalopram, indalpine, mianserin, nomifensine, viloxazine) were tested and compared with psychostimulants (d-amphetamine, caffeine), neuroleptics (chlorpromazine, haloperidol, sulpiride), anxiolytics (clobazam, diazepam) and agents acting on the cholinergic system (atropine, oxotremorine). 4. All antidepressants decreased the duration of immobility and most increased the power of movements. 5. The psychostimulants also decreased immobility but only amphetamine increased the power of movements. 6. Neuroleptics increased immobility without affecting the power of movements, whereas anxiolytics increased immobility but decreased the power of movements. 7. Atropine had a profile similar to antidepressants whereas oxotremorine tended to have opposite effects. 8. The results suggest that the automated test system with its two parameters is not only sensitive to antidepressants but could also be useful for generating activity profiles for different kinds of psychotropic agent.

The automated tail suspension test: A computerized device which differentiates psychotropic drugs

In mice tested for 60 min in photometer-activity boxes, an increased locomotor activity (+50% to +100%) was observed after administration of cocaine (4 mg/kg i.p.). Such hyperactivity was markedly enhanced by all benzodiazepines studied (flurazepam excepted), at doses which did not modify spontaneous motility: chlordiazepoxide (1 mg/kg), diazepam (1 to 2 mg/kg), clobazam (1 mg/kg), oxazepam (0.25 mg/kg), nitrazepam (0.03 to 0.25 mg/kg), flunitrazepam (0.015 mg/kg), clonazepam (0.004 mg/kg) and lorazepam (0.004 mg/kg). These doses are very low, e.g., 8 to 20 times lower than those required to antagonize the locomotor stimulation caused by cocaine. The increase of cocaine-induced hypermotility elicited by nitrazepam (0.125 mg/kg i.p.) was reduced or suppressed by impairing gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)-ergic transmission with picrotoxin (0.25 mg/kg) or by blocking α or β adrenergic receptors with prazosin (1 mg/kg i.p.) or propranolol (4 mg/kg i.p.), respectively. At these doses neither picrotoxin, prazosin, nor propranolol modified the spontaneous locomotor activity or the hyperactivity induced by cocaine alone. These results suggest that benzodiazepines may exert their facilitatory activity on cocaine-induced hyperactivity by interfering with some central catecholaminergic processes either directly or through the involvement of a GABA-ergic link.

A simple model for studying benzodiazepines: Potentiation of hyperactivity induced by cocaine in mice

Epidemiologic data of primary glomerular diseases in western France

https://www.kidney-international.org/article/S0085-2538(15)58665-1/pdf

Pierre Simon

Papers

The tail suspension test: A new method for screening antidepressants in mice

The automated tail suspension test: A computerized device which differentiates psychotropic drugs

A simple model for studying benzodiazepines: Potentiation of hyperactivity induced by cocaine in mice

Epidemiologic data of primary glomerular diseases in western France

Epidemiology of primary glomerular diseases in a French region. Variations according to period and age