The effect of the 5-HT1A receptor agonist, buspirone, on ACTH, cortisol, and prolactine (PRL) plasma levels was used to assess the functional
status of hypothalamic 5-HT1A receptors. A group of 15 concurrent normal subjects were used as control.\n\nResults: Endogenous depressed patients in remission and currently receiving treatment with imipramine (mean length of treatment 145 days, SD = 27) presented significantly lower buspirone responses to ACTH and cortisol learn more than in the pre-treatment condition (Delta max p <= .05; AUCp < .001) and to ACTH in comparison with healthy controls (Delta max p < .01; AUC p < .05). No significant differences were found between the post-treatment and pre-treatment PRL responses, or between patients in both conditions and controls; nevertheless, the PRL response in patients in remission and receiving
treatment almost reached the values seen in controls.\n\nConclusions: This study extends previous findings from our group using the SSRI citalopram as an antidepressant. Imipramine and citalopram induce similar changes in the endocrine response to buspirone in depressed patients. As the direction of change in ACTH cortisol and PRL responses after treatment is the opposite, we cannot selleck substantiate increases or decreases in the sensitivity of post-synaptic 5-HT1A receptors in the hypothalamus by long-term imipramine treatment and/or resolution of illness. Therefore, the hormonal changes may result from different or multiples unknown mechanisms. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.”
“Measles virus remains a substantial PD173074 purchase cause of morbidity and mortality, producing acute infection with a potential for development of viral persistence. To study the events underlying
acute and persistent measles virus infection, we performed a global transcriptional analysis on murine neuroblastoma cells that were acutely or persistently infected with measles virus. In general, we found that acute infection induced significantly more gene expression changes than did persistent infection. A functional enrichment analysis to identify which host pathways were perturbed during each of these infections identified several pathways related to cholesterol biosynthesis, including cholesterol metabolic processes, hydroxymethyl-glutaryl-coenzyme A (CoA) reductase activity, and acetyl-CoA C-acetyltransferase activity. We also found that measles virus colocalized to lipid rafts in both acute and persistent infection models and that the majority of genes associated with cholesterol synthesis were downregulated in persistent infection relative to acute infection, suggesting a possible link with the defective viral budding in persistent infection.