Biomaterial Database

Hyposensitivity to serotonergic stimulation in protein malnourished rats. 1983

R D Hall, and J P Leahy, and W M Robertson

Rats subjected to early protein malnutrition have higher levels of brain serotonin (5-HT) than well-nourished rats. In the present study we asked whether the elevated 5-HT levels of associated with any changes in sensitivity to serotonergic stimulation. In four different behavioral tets the effects of the 5-HT agonist N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) were, with only a few exceptions, smaller in rats malnourished during both pre- and postweaning stages of development or during just one period or the other. In Experiment 1 the 5-HT syndrome induced by DMT was weaker in malnourished rats than in well-nourished ones. In Experiments 2 and 3, DMT was not a disruptive to malnourished rats in two motor tasks, rotating rod and treadmill, as it was to rats reared under high protein conditions. In Experiment 4 reductions in acoustic startle amplitudes induced by DMT were not as large in malnourished as in well-nourished rats. The hyposensitivity to DMt in protein malnourished rats may reflect a diminished sensitivity of 5-HT receptors resulting from the abnormally high levels of the neurotransmitter.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008297	Male		Males
D008784	Methysergide	An ergot derivative that is a congener of LYSERGIC ACID DIETHYLAMIDE. It antagonizes the effects of serotonin in blood vessels and gastrointestinal smooth muscle, but has few of the properties of other ergot alkaloids. Methysergide is used prophylactically in migraine and other vascular headaches and to antagonize serotonin in the carcinoid syndrome.	Dimethylergometrin,Methylmethylergonovine,Deseril,Desril,Désernil-Sandoz,Methysergide Dimaleate,Methysergide Maleate,Sansert,UML-491,Dimaleate, Methysergide,Désernil Sandoz,Maleate, Methysergide,UML 491,UML491
D009043	Motor Activity	Body movements of a human or an animal as a behavioral phenomenon.	Activities, Motor,Activity, Motor,Motor Activities
D011488	Protein Deficiency	A nutritional condition produced by a deficiency of proteins in the diet, characterized by adaptive enzyme changes in the liver, increase in amino acid synthetases, and diminution of urea formation, thus conserving nitrogen and reducing its loss in the urine. Growth, immune response, repair, and production of enzymes and hormones are all impaired in severe protein deficiency. Protein deficiency may also arise in the face of adequate protein intake if the protein is of poor quality (i.e., the content of one or more amino acids is inadequate and thus becomes the limiting factor in protein utilization). (From Merck Manual, 16th ed; Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine, 12th ed, p406)	Deficiency, Protein,Deficiencies, Protein,Protein Deficiencies
D011919	Rats, Inbred Strains	Genetically identical individuals developed from brother and sister matings which have been carried out for twenty or more generations or by parent x offspring matings carried out with certain restrictions. This also includes animals with a long history of closed colony breeding.	August Rats,Inbred Rat Strains,Inbred Strain of Rat,Inbred Strain of Rats,Inbred Strains of Rats,Rat, Inbred Strain,August Rat,Inbred Rat Strain,Inbred Strain Rat,Inbred Strain Rats,Inbred Strains Rat,Inbred Strains Rats,Rat Inbred Strain,Rat Inbred Strains,Rat Strain, Inbred,Rat Strains, Inbred,Rat, August,Rat, Inbred Strains,Rats Inbred Strain,Rats Inbred Strains,Rats, August,Rats, Inbred Strain,Strain Rat, Inbred,Strain Rats, Inbred,Strain, Inbred Rat,Strains, Inbred Rat
D001835	Body Weight	The mass or quantity of heaviness of an individual. It is expressed by units of pounds or kilograms.	Body Weights,Weight, Body,Weights, Body
D004044	Dietary Proteins	Proteins obtained from foods. They are the main source of the ESSENTIAL AMINO ACIDS.	Proteins, Dietary,Dietary Protein,Protein, Dietary
D004130	N,N-Dimethyltryptamine	An N-methylated indoleamine derivative and serotonergic hallucinogen which occurs naturally and ubiquitously in several plant species including Psychotria veridis. It also occurs in trace amounts in mammalian brain, blood, and urine, and is known to act as an agonist or antagonist of certain SEROTONIN RECEPTORS.	Dimethyltryptamine,N,N Dimethyltryptamine
D005260	Female		Females
D000818	Animals	Unicellular or multicellular, heterotrophic organisms, that have sensation and the power of voluntary movement. Under the older five kingdom paradigm, Animalia was one of the kingdoms. Under the modern three domain model, Animalia represents one of the many groups in the domain EUKARYOTA.	Animal,Metazoa,Animalia