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Nature Oct 1976
Topics: Animals; Bicuculline; Cats; Isoquinolines; Methods; Visual Pathways; Wakefulness
PubMed: 972706
DOI: 10.1038/263531a0 -
Zhongguo Ying Yong Sheng Li Xue Za Zhi... Nov 2022
Topics: Animals; Rats; Bicuculline; Brain Injuries
PubMed: 37308420
DOI: 10.12047/j.cjap.6379.2022.127 -
Nature Mar 1976
Topics: Amblyopia; Animals; Bicuculline; Cats; GABA Antagonists; Isoquinolines; Neural Pathways; Seizures; Visual Cortex; Visual Pathways
PubMed: 1256565
DOI: 10.1038/260256a0 -
Physiology & Behavior Sep 2021The preoptic area (POA) is a brain structure classically involved in a wide variety of animal behavior including sleep and maternal care. In the current study, we...
The preoptic area (POA) is a brain structure classically involved in a wide variety of animal behavior including sleep and maternal care. In the current study, we evaluate the specific effect of disinhibition of two specific regions of the POA, the medial POA nucleus (mPOA) and the ventrolateral POA area (VLPO) on sleep and maternal behavior in lactating rats. For this purpose, mother rats on postpartum day 1 (PPD1) were implanted for polysomnographic recordings and with bilateral cannulae either in the mPOA or in the VLPO. The rats were tested for sleep and maternal behavior on PPD4-8 after the infusion of the GABA-A antagonist, bicuculline (0, 10 or 30 ng/0.2 µl/side). Infusion of bicuculline into the mPOA augmented retrieving and nest building behaviors and reduced both nursing and milk ejections but had almost no effect on sleep. When bicuculine was microinjected into the VLPO, the rats significantly increase the number of retrievings and mouthings and reduced the nursing time without changes in milk ejections, which was associated with an increase in wakefulness and a reduction in light sleep. Our results show that disinhibition of the mPOA, a key area in the control of maternal behavior, increased active maternal behaviors and reduced nursing without affecting wakefulness or sleep time. In contrast, the enhancement of some active maternal behaviors when the drug was infused into the VLPO, a sleep-promoting area, with a concomitant increase in wakefulness suggests that mother rats devote this additional waking time in the active maternal care of the pups. We hypothesize that maternal behavior changes after bicuculine microinjection into the VLPO are caused by a reduction in the sleep drive, rather than a direct effect on maternal behavior.
Topics: Animals; Bicuculline; Female; Humans; Lactation; Maternal Behavior; Preoptic Area; Rats; Sleep
PubMed: 34090866
DOI: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2021.113491 -
British Journal of Pharmacology Sep 19741 The effects of bicuculline on dorsal and ventral root activity and upon the depressant effect of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and glycine on ventral root responses...
1 The effects of bicuculline on dorsal and ventral root activity and upon the depressant effect of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and glycine on ventral root responses have been studied on the isolated spinal cord of the frog.2 In the absence of stimulation, the alkaloid induced a variety of activity of which the most notable was phasic simultaneous slow wave depolarization in the dorsal and ventral roots which could be reduced or suppressed by magnesium.3 With low concentrations of bicuculline, the adjacent dorsal root response evoked by a single stimulus was depressed maximally before an increase in the ventral root response could be discerned.4 The bicuculline-induced dorsal root activity (in the absence of stimulation) was still apparent at times when the evoked dorsal root response was reduced.5 Bicuculline did not differentiate between the depressant effects of GABA and glycine on the evoked ventral root responses.6 The excitant effects of bicuculline reported here did not appear to be attributable to specific antagonism of the postsynaptic depressant action of GABA.
Topics: Amino Acids; Animals; Bicuculline; Depression, Chemical; Electric Stimulation; Evoked Potentials; GABA Antagonists; Glycine; In Vitro Techniques; Isoquinolines; Rana temporaria; Spinal Cord; Spinal Nerve Roots
PubMed: 4155985
DOI: 10.1111/j.1476-5381.1974.tb09684.x -
Neuropharmacology Feb 2004The effects of the well-known GABA(A)-receptor blocker bicuculline on voltage-gated K(+) currents were studied in neurons from the medial preoptic nucleus (MPN) of rat....
The effects of the well-known GABA(A)-receptor blocker bicuculline on voltage-gated K(+) currents were studied in neurons from the medial preoptic nucleus (MPN) of rat. Whole-cell currents were recorded using the perforated-patch technique. Voltage steps from -54 to +6 mV resulted in tetraethylammonium-sensitive K(+) currents of delayed rectifier type. The total K(+) current (at 300 ms), including Ca(2+)-dependent and Ca(2+)-independent components, was reversibly reduced (17 +/- 4%) by 100 microM bicuculline methiodide and (37 +/- 5%) by 100 microM bicuculline as free base. The Ca(2+)-independent fraction (77 +/- 2%) of K(+) current evoked by a voltage step was, however, reduced (54 +/- 6%) only by bicuculline free base, but was not affected by bicuculline methiodide. The half-saturating concentration of bicuculline free base for blocking this purely voltage-gated K(+) current was 113 microM, whereas for blocking a steady Ca(2+)-dependent K(+) current it was 36 microM. The bicuculline-sensitive voltage-gated K(+) current was composed of 4-AP-sensitive and 4-AP-resistant components with different kinetic properties. No component of the purely voltage-gated K(+) current was affected neither by 100 nM alpha-dendrotoxin nor by 100 nM I-dendrotoxin. The possible K(+)-channel subtypes mediating the bicuculline-sensitive current in MPN neurons are discussed.
Topics: Animals; Bicuculline; Cells, Cultured; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Male; Membrane Potentials; Neurons; Potassium Channel Blockers; Potassium Channels, Voltage-Gated; Preoptic Area; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley
PubMed: 14680766
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2003.09.003 -
Scandinavian Journal of Psychology Jul 2003The GABAA antagonist bicuculline, intracranially infused into the accessory olfactory bulb (AOB), facilitated the expression of maternal behavior (MB) in virgin Wistar...
The GABAA antagonist bicuculline, intracranially infused into the accessory olfactory bulb (AOB), facilitated the expression of maternal behavior (MB) in virgin Wistar female rats. Behavioral effects were observed 24 hours after infusion and were injection dependent. Pheromonal stimuli, generated by the pups, are thought to exert an inhibitory effect on vomeronasal nuclei involved in MB in virgin rats. The present study investigated the possibility that a decrement in AOB output, resulting from long-term compensatory synaptic changes to chronic bicuculline infusion, would facilitate the expression of MB. The implications of our findings for the mechanisms involved in the induction of MB and the maternal experience effect are discussed.
Topics: Animals; Bicuculline; Convulsants; Female; Infusion Pumps; Maternal Behavior; Olfactory Bulb; Rats; Rats, Wistar
PubMed: 12914591
DOI: 10.1111/1467-9450.00345 -
Brain Research Mar 1995Microinjection of neuropeptide Y (NPY) into the suprachiasmatic nucleus of the hypothalamus (SCN) during the middle of the subjective day (i.e. circadian time 6) causes...
Microinjection of neuropeptide Y (NPY) into the suprachiasmatic nucleus of the hypothalamus (SCN) during the middle of the subjective day (i.e. circadian time 6) causes large phase advances in circadian rhythms. The present study demonstrates that microinjection of the gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) antagonist, bicuculline, completely blocks NPY-induced phase advances. These data indicate that GABAA activity within the SCN may mediate the phase shifting effects of some stimuli on the circadian pacemaker.
Topics: Animals; Bicuculline; Cricetinae; GABA-A Receptor Antagonists; Male; Mesocricetus; Microinjections; Neuropeptide Y; Receptors, GABA-A; Regression Analysis; Suprachiasmatic Nucleus
PubMed: 7796148
DOI: 10.1016/0006-8993(95)00018-l -
Life Sciences Jan 1982Bicuculline antagonizes diazepam induced feeding in Syrian hamsters in a dose dependent manner using doses which do not affect running wheel activity. These results...
Bicuculline antagonizes diazepam induced feeding in Syrian hamsters in a dose dependent manner using doses which do not affect running wheel activity. These results suggest that diazepam-induced feeding can be completely and specifically blocked by antagonizing GABA.
Topics: Animals; Bicuculline; Cricetinae; Diazepam; Feeding Behavior; Male; Mesocricetus; Motor Activity
PubMed: 7070212
DOI: 10.1016/0024-3205(82)90567-7 -
Brain Research Bulletin May 1991Catecholamines (dopamine and norepinephrine) are considered to be predominantly inhibitory neurotransmitters in the brain and their depletion produced by...
Catecholamines (dopamine and norepinephrine) are considered to be predominantly inhibitory neurotransmitters in the brain and their depletion produced by 6-hydroxydopamine may result in proconvulsant effects. In our experiments on rats aged 5, 7, 9, 12, 15, 18, 25 and 90 days under urethane anesthesia we demonstrated the development of neocortical epileptic focus evoked by topical application of bicuculline methiodide. In experimental groups aged 7, 12, 18, 25 and 90 days a chronic depletion of catecholamines was induced using pretreatment with 6-hydroxydopamine early postnatally. An epileptogenic focus was induced in all age groups; duration of a single discharge decreased with age in both control and experimental animals. The spread of activity from the primary focus to contralateral frontal cortex via callosal connections was as rapid as in controls. However, the transfer of discharge to occipital regions was delayed and the number of discharges decreased in experimental rats. Our study demonstrated a substantial role of catecholamines for synchronization of focal discharges in neocortex and a promoting role of catecholamines in association pathways within neocortex.
Topics: Animals; Bicuculline; Catecholamines; Cerebral Cortex; Electroencephalography; Epilepsy; Frontal Lobe; Male; Occipital Lobe; Oxidopamine; Rats; Rats, Inbred Strains
PubMed: 1933389
DOI: 10.1016/0361-9230(91)90162-d