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Female Long-Evans Rats (female + long-evan_rat)
Selected AbstractsVariations in Maternal Behaviour are Associated with Differences in Oxytocin Receptor Levels in the RatJOURNAL OF NEUROENDOCRINOLOGY, Issue 12 2000D. D. Francis Abstract Female Long-Evans rats exhibit stable individual differences in maternal behaviours such as pup licking/grooming and arched-back nursing posture (LG-ABN). These variations in maternal behaviour are accompanied by differences in lactation-induced increases in oxytocin receptor levels in brain regions known to mediate the expression of maternal care in this species (i.e. the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, the medial preoptic area and the lateral septum). Oxytocin receptor levels in the central nucleus of the amygdala were significantly higher in high compared to low LG-ABN females regardless of reproductive status. These findings suggest that individual differences in maternal behaviour may be directly related to variations in oxytocin receptor expression. [source] Exercise Neuroprotection in a Rat Model of Binge Alcohol ConsumptionALCOHOLISM, Issue 3 2010J. Leigh Leasure Background:, Excessive alcohol intake produces structural and functional deficits in corticolimbic pathways that are thought to underlie cognitive deficits in the alcohol use disorders (AUDs). Animal models of binge alcohol administration support the direct link of high levels of alcohol consumption and neurotoxicity in the hippocampus and surrounding cortex. In contrast, voluntary wheel running enhances hippocampal neurogenesis and generally promotes the health of neurons. Methods:, We investigated whether voluntary exercise prior to binge alcohol exposure could protect against alcohol-induced cell loss. Female Long-Evans rats exercised voluntarily for 14 days before undergoing 4 days of binge alcohol consumption. Brains were harvested immediately after the last dose of alcohol and examined for various histological markers of neurodegeneration, including both cell death (FluoroJade B) and cell birth (Ki67) markers. Results:, Rats that exercised prior to binge exposure were significantly less behaviorally intoxicated, which was not a result of enhanced hepatic metabolism. Rats that exercised prior to binge alcohol consumption had reduced loss of dentate gyrus granule cells and fewer FluoroJade B positive cells in the dentate gyrus and associated entorhinal-perirhinal cortex compared to nonexercisers. However, exercise did not protect against cell death in the piriform cortex nor protect against alcohol-induced decreases in cell proliferation, evidenced by a similar alcohol-induced reduction in Ki67 labeled cells between exercise and sedentary rats. Conclusions:, We conclude that exercise can reduce behavioral sensitivity to ethanol intoxication and protect vulnerable brain areas from alcohol-induced cell death. Exercise neuroprotection of alcohol-induced brain damage has important implications in understanding the neurobiology of the AUDs as well as in developing novel treatment strategies. [source] Sexually dimorphic effects of hippocampal cholinergic deafferentation in ratsEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE, Issue 11 2004Zachariah Jonasson Abstract To determine whether the basal forebrain-hippocampal cholinergic system supports sexually dimorphic functionality, male and female Long-Evans rats were given either selective medial septum/vertical limb of the diagonal band (MS/VDB) cholinergic lesions using the neurotoxin 192 IgG-saporin or a control surgery and then postoperatively tested in a set of standard spatial learning tasks in the Morris water maze. Lesions were highly specific and effective as confirmed by both choline acetyltransferase/parvalbumin immunostaining and acetylcholinesterase histochemistry. Female controls performed worse than male controls in place learning and MS/VDB lesions failed to impair spatial learning in male rats, both consistent with previous findings. In female rats, MS/VDB cholinergic lesions facilitated spatial reference learning. A subsequent test of learning strategy in the water maze revealed a female bias for a response, relative to a spatial, strategy; MS/VDB cholinergic lesions enhanced the use of a spatial strategy in both sexes, but only significantly so in males. Together, these results indicate a sexually dimorphic function associated with MS/VDB-hippocampal cholinergic inputs. In female rats, these neurons appear to support sex-specific spatial learning processes. [source] Chlorpyrifos-Induced Hypothermia and Vasodilation in the Tail of the Rat: Blockade by Scopolamine,BASIC AND CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY & TOXICOLOGY, Issue 1 2000Christopher J. Gordon Organophosphate pesticides such as chlorpyrifos reduce core temperature (Tc) in laboratory rodents. The mechanism(s) responsible for the chlorpyrifos-induced hypothermia are not well known. This study assessed the role of a key effector for thermoregulation in the rat, vasomotor control of heat loss from the tail, and its possible cholinergic control during chlorpyrifos-induced hypothermia. Tc and motor activity were monitored by telemetry in female Long-Evans rats maintained at an ambient temperature (Ta) of 25°. Tail skin temperature (Tsk(t)) was measured hourly. Rats were dosed with chlorpyrifos (0 or 25 mg/kg orally). Two hr later the rats were dosed with saline or scopolamine (1.0 mg/kg intraperitoneally). Two hr after chlorpyrifos treatment there was a marked elevation in Tsk(t) concomitant with a 0.5° reduction in Tc. Scopolamine administered to control rats led to a marked elevation in Tc with little change in Tsk(t). Rats treated with chlorpyrifos and administered scopolamine underwent a marked vasoconstriction and elevation in Tc. Vasodilation of the tail is an important thermoeffector to reduce Tc during the acute stages of chlorpyrifos exposure. The blockade of the response by scopolamine suggests that the hypothermic and vasodilatory response to chlorpyrifos is mediated via a cholinergic muscarinic pathway in the CNS. [source] | ||||||||||