The psychotropic amphetamine derivatives 3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA) and 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) have been used for recreational and therapeutic purposes in man. In rats, these drugs cause large reductions in brain levels of serotonin (5-HT). This study employs immunocytochemistry to characterize the neurotoxic effects of these compounds upon monoaminergic neurons in...
Phencyclidine (PCP) is a schizophrenomimetic drug of abuse. PCP binds with high affinity (apparent dissociation constant, KD less than 10(-6) M) to rat brain membranes and blocks, selectively, a voltage-gated, noninactivating K channel found in rat brain synaptosomes (presynaptic nerve terminals). Thus, it has been proposed that the high-affinity PCP receptor in brain is this K channel....
125I-Lysergic acid diethylamide (125I-LSD) binds with high affinity to serotonergic sites on rat choroid plexus. These sites were localized to choroid plexus epithelial cells by use of a novel high resolution stripping film technique for light microscopic autoradiography. In membrane preparations from rat choroid plexus, the serotonergic site density was 3100 fmol/mg of protein, which is...
A series of indole-ethylamines were tested for their ability to suppress the spontaneous firing of single dorsal raphe serotonergic neurons in the rat. The compounds were all derivatives of either tryptamine or N,N-dimethyltryptamine possessing hydroxy or methoxy substituents on the benzene ring portion of the indole nucleus. Their activity was assessed using quantitative microiontophoresis or...