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Alpha and beta noradrenergic mediation of NMDA glutamatergic effects on lordosis behaviour and plasmatic LH concentrations in the primed female rat

  • Basic Neurosciences, Genetics and Immunology - Original Article
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Abstract

In previous studies we have found that blockade of NMDA (N-Methyl-d-Aspartic-Acid)-type glutamatergic receptor with intracerebroventricular (ICV) selective drugs induces an inhibition of lordosis in ovariectomized (OVX) estrogen primed rats receiving progesterone or luteinizing hormone releasing hormone (LHRH). By the opposite way, stimulation with NMDA in OVX estrogen primed rats induced a significant increase of lordosis. In the present study the action of an α1-noradrenergic antagonist, HEAT (BE 2254/2-beta-4-Hydroxyphenyl-Ethyl-Aminomethyl-1-Tetralone), and Metoprolol, a β-noradrenergic antagonist, were studied injecting them ICV previously to NMDA administration in treated OVX estrogen primed rats. In experiment 1, the enhancing effect on lordosis induced by NMDA at high dose (1 μg) was abolished by HEAT administration (P < 0.001 for 3 and 6 μg), and the LH plasma levels were decreased only with the higher dose (P < 0.05), suggesting that behavioral effects are quite more sensitive to the α-blockade than hormonal effects. In experiment 2, enhancing effects on lordosis behavior were not observed with neither the NMDA at low dose (0.5 μg) nor the metoprolol alone (5.71 μg), but a synergism was observed when both were simultaneously administered (P < 0.001). The LH plasma levels were increased by Metoprolol alone (P < 0.05), and powered by the combination with NMDA at low dose (P < 0.01 vs. SAL and NMDA alone); no differences were observed with Metoprolol. LH increase was observed with Metoprolol even without behavioural modifications. These findings strongly suggest that facilitatory and inhibitory effects of NMDA in this model are mediated by α- and β-adrenergic transmission in both, behavioral and hormonal effects.

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Acknowledgments

We thank E. Morsucci, D.M. Videla, A. Funes, A. Morón, L. Peñafort, and J. González for their technical support, and Dr. Graciela Jahn for the LH Assay. We thank to Dr. Roberto Yunes for their comments on the present paper. We thank Dr. Juan Delius for his constant support and counseling. Pascual Angel Gargiulo, Ricardo Jorge Cabrera, and Claudia Bregonzio are established researchers of the National Council of Research (CONICET) of Argentina. Adriana Inés Landa is Research Coordinator of the Laboratory of Neurosciences and Experimental Psychology. José Vicente Lafuente Sánchez is full Professor of Neuroscience (University of the Basque Country, Spain). Angel José Martín Gargiulo and Mercedes María Lucrecia Gargiulo contributed in a very significant manner in this paper. This study was granted by CONICET (Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas) (PEI N° 0386/97) and a grant of Volkswagen Foundation (Germany) (Project: “Nucleus Accumbens Septi und kognitives Verhalten”, Delius-Gargiulo) and is part of a cooperation with the Laboratory of General Psychology of the University of Konstanz, Germany. We thank Mrs. Sara Roitman for her invaluable cooperation. We thank Prof. Dr. Juan Delius for his constant support and counseling.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratorio de Neurociencias y Psicología Experimental, Área de Farmacología, Facultad de Ciencias Médicas, Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Instituto de Medicina y Biología Experimental de Cuyo (IMBECU-CONICET), Casilla de Correo 7, Mendoza, 5500, Argentina

    Adriana Inés Landa, Ángel José Martín Gargiulo, Mercedes María Lucrecia Gargiulo & Pascual Ángel Gargiulo

  2. Laboratorio de Investigaciones Neuroquímicas, Comportamentales y Endocrinas (LINCE), Área de Farmacología, Facultad de Ciencias Médicas, Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Instituto de Medicina y Biología Experimental de Cuyo (IMBECU-CONICET), Mendoza, Argentina

    Ricardo Jorge Cabrera

  3. Departamento de Farmacología, Facultad de Ciencias Químicas, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto de Farmacologia Experimental Córdoba (IFEC-CONICET), Córdoba, Argentina

    Claudia Bregonzio

  4. Laboratorio de Neurociencias Clínicas y Experimentales (LaNCE), Dpto. de Neurociencias, Universidad del País Vasco—Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea (University of the Basque Country), Apdo. 699, 48080, Bilbao, Spain

    José Vicente Lafuente Sánchez

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  1. Adriana Inés Landa
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  2. Ángel José Martín Gargiulo
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  3. Mercedes María Lucrecia Gargiulo
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  4. Ricardo Jorge Cabrera
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  5. Claudia Bregonzio
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  6. José Vicente Lafuente Sánchez
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  7. Pascual Ángel Gargiulo
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Correspondence to Pascual Ángel Gargiulo.

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Landa, A.I., Gargiulo, Á.J.M., Gargiulo, M.M.L. et al. Alpha and beta noradrenergic mediation of NMDA glutamatergic effects on lordosis behaviour and plasmatic LH concentrations in the primed female rat. J Neural Transm 116, 551–557 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-009-0217-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-009-0217-x

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