ergoline and Body-Weight

Topics: Adult; Blood Pressure; Body Weight; Clinical Trials as Topic; Diarrhea; Drug Interactions; Ergolines; Female; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Postgastrectomy Syndromes; Reserpine; Serotonin Antagonists; Urea

Ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) is a serious iatrogenic complication that can occur during assisted reproductive techniques. The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of the leukotriene receptor antagonist (montelukast) treatment in prevention of OHSS and compare to cabergoline treatment. Twenty-four immature female Wistar rats were assigned to four groups. Group 1 was the control group. In the remaining three groups, OHSS was induced through ovarian stimulation with gonadotropins. No treatment was given to Group 2. Group 3 was administered a low-dose 100 mg/kg cabergoline treatment and Group 4 was received 20 mg/kg montelukast. Body weight, ovarian weight, vasculary permability (VP), peritoneal fluid vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) values and VEGF immune-expression were compared between the groups. Both cabergoline and montelukast prevented progression of OHSS compared to the OHSS group. Body weight, ovarian weight, VP, peritoneal fluid VEGF values and VEGF expression were significantly lower in both cabergoline- and montelukast-treated rats than in those not treated OHSS group. In conclusion, montelukast is an effective option for prevention of OHSS, as well as cabergoline. Montelukast may be a new treatment option to prevent and control the OHSS.

Topics: Acetates; Animals; Ascitic Fluid; Body Weight; Cabergoline; Capillary Permeability; Chorionic Gonadotropin; Cyclopropanes; Dopamine Agonists; Ergolines; Female; Gonadotropins, Equine; Horses; Humans; Immunohistochemistry; Leukotriene Antagonists; Organ Size; Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome; Ovary; Ovulation Induction; Quinolines; Rats; Rats, Wistar; Reproductive Control Agents; Sulfides; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A

Hyperprolactinemia might be related to weight gain, metabolic syndrome (MS), and insulin resistance (IR). Treatment with dopamine agonist (DA) has been shown to reduce body weight and improve metabolic parameters. The objectives of this study were to determine the prevalence of obesity, overweight, MS, and IR in patients with prolactinoma before and after therapy with DA and to evaluate the relation between prolactin (PRL), body weight, fat distribution, leptin levels, IR, and lipid profile before treatment. In addition, we investigated the correlation of the reduction in PRL levels with weight loss and metabolic profile improvement. Twenty-two patients with prolactinoma completed 6 months of treatment with DA. These patients were submitted to clinical (BMI, waist circumference, blood pressure (BP)), laboratory evaluation (leptin, glucose, low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol, and triglyceride (TG) levels) and abdominal computed tomography (CT) before and after treatment. The statistical analyses were done by nonparametric tests. At the beginning of the study, the prevalence of obesity, overweight, MS, and IR was 45, 27, 27, and 18%, respectively. After 6 months of treatment with DA, PRL levels normalized, but no significant difference in BMI was observed. However, there was a significant decrease on homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA(IR)) index, glucose, LDL-cholesterol, and TG levels. This study suggests a possible involvement of prolactinoma on the prevalence of obesity. We should consider that DA may be effective on improving metabolic parameters, and we speculate that a period longer than 6 months of treatment is necessary to conclude whether this drug can interfere in the body weight of patients with prolactinoma.

Topics: Adult; Aftercare; Aged; Blood Glucose; Body Composition; Body Mass Index; Body Weight; Bromocriptine; Cabergoline; Cholesterol, HDL; Cholesterol, LDL; Dopamine Agonists; Ergolines; Female; Humans; Insulin; Insulin Resistance; Leptin; Male; Metabolic Syndrome; Metabolome; Middle Aged; Obesity; Prevalence; Prolactinoma; Waist Circumference; Weight Gain; Young Adult

To compare the efficacy of cabergoline (Cb2) and meloxicam in curbing vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression and preventing ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS).. Randomized controlled, animal study.. Academic facility.. We used a total of 50 immature Wistar female rats randomly to create an experimental OHSS model.. Ten rats each formed the control group and mild OHSS group. The remaining 30 were separated into three equal groups of severe OHSS. Mild and severe OHSS were induced through ovarian stimulation with gonadotropins. One group with severe OHSS was administered a low-dose 100 microg/kg Cb2 therapy; another group with severe OHSS received 600 microg/kg meloxicam. Body weight, vascular permeability (VP), VEGF expression, ovary weight, and diameter were then compared.. The efficacy of Cb2 and meloxicam for preventing OHSS.. Comparison of the severe OHSS groups with the controls and mild OHSS group revealed significant increases in VEGF expression, VP, ovary weight, and diameter. The increase in VEGF expression was demonstrated to be dependent on human chorionic gonadotropin doses. However, low-dose Cb2 and meloxicam therapies were shown to be ineffective in decreasing VEGF expression and VP, ovary weight, and ovary diameter in severe OHSS.. VEGF elevation played a critical part in OHSS pathogenesis, but the therapies administered failed to curb VEGF expression.

Topics: Analysis of Variance; Animals; Biopsy, Needle; Body Weight; Cabergoline; Chorionic Gonadotropin; Disease Models, Animal; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Drug Administration Schedule; Ergolines; Female; Immunohistochemistry; Injections, Intramuscular; Meloxicam; Organ Size; Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome; Ovary; Ovulation Induction; Pregnancy; Pregnancy, Animal; Probability; Random Allocation; Rats; Rats, Wistar; Thiazines; Thiazoles; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A

The dorsomedial medulla oblongata (DMM) includes the solitary tract nucleus and the hypoglossal nucleus, to which 5-HT neurons project. Effects of 5-HT in the DMM on ventilatory augmentation and airway dilation are mediated via 5-HT2 receptors, which interact with the CO(2) drive. The interaction may elicit cycles between hyperventilation with airway dilation and hypoventilation with airway narrowing. In the present study, effects of 5-HT2 receptors in the DMM on hypoxic ventilatory and airway responses were investigated, while 5-HT release in the DMM was monitored. Adult male mice were anesthetized, and then a microdialysis probe was inserted into the DMM. The mice were placed in a double-chamber plethysmograph. After recovery from anesthesia, the mice were exposed to hypoxic gas (7% O(2) in N(2)) for 5 min with or without a 5-HT2 receptor antagonist (LY-53857) perfused in the DMM. 5-HT release in the DMM was increased by hypoxia regardless of the presence of LY-53857. Immediate onset and the peak of initial hypoxic hyperventilatory responses were delayed. Subsequent ventilatory decline and airway dilation during initial hypoxic hyperventilation were suppressed with LY-53857. These results suggest that 5-HT release increased by hypoxia acts on 5-HT2 receptors in the DMM, which contributes to the immediate onset of initial hypoxic hyperventilation, airway dilation, and subsequent ventilatory decline. Hypoxic ventilatory and airway responses mediated via 5-HT2 receptors in the DMM may play roles in immediate rescue and defensive adaptation for hypoxia and may be included in periodic breathing and the pathogenesis of obstructive sleep apnea.

Topics: Airway Resistance; Animals; Body Weight; Disease Models, Animal; Ergolines; Hyperventilation; Hypoxia; Lung; Male; Medulla Oblongata; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Microdialysis; Plethysmography; Pulmonary Ventilation; Receptors, Serotonin, 5-HT2; Respiratory Mechanics; Serotonin; Serotonin 5-HT2 Receptor Antagonists; Serotonin Antagonists; Sleep Apnea, Obstructive; Time Factors

We previously reported that streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic mice showed the depressive-like behavior in the tail suspension test. It has also been reported that leptin-deficient obese mice demonstrate the depressive-like behavior. Since STZ-induced diabetes causes a marked decrease in plasma leptin levels, it is possible that decrease in leptin levels and the depressive-like behavior may somehow be related. Therefore, we examined the effect of leptin on the depressive-like behavior of STZ-induced diabetic mice in the tail suspension test. The prolonged duration of immobility in diabetic mice was dose-dependently and significantly suppressed by single treatment with leptin (0.1-1 mg/kg, i.p.) without affecting on the locomotor activity. Leptin did not affect either the duration of immobility or the locomotor activity in non-diabetic mice. The anti-immobility effect of leptin (1 mg/kg, i.p.) in diabetic mice was significantly antagonized by the selective serotonin2 (5-HT2) receptor antagonist LY53,857 (0.03 mg/kg, s.c.), but not by the selective 5-HT1A receptor antagonist WAY-100635 (0.03 mg/kg, s.c.). Antagonists administered alone did not affect either the duration of immobility or the locomotor activity in diabetic mice. In conclusion, we suggest that leptin exerts the antidepressant-like effect in diabetic mice mediated by, at least in part, 5-HT2 receptors.

Topics: Animals; Antidepressive Agents; Blood Glucose; Body Weight; Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental; Ergolines; Hindlimb Suspension; Insulin; Leptin; Male; Mice; Mice, Inbred ICR; Motor Activity; Piperazines; Pyridines; Receptor, Serotonin, 5-HT1A; Receptors, Leptin; Receptors, Serotonin, 5-HT2; Serotonin Antagonists

The dietary subacute toxicity of the ergot alkaloid alpha-ergocryptine was studied in Sprague-Dawley rats. Rats were fed 0, 4, 20, 100 or 500 mg ergocryptine/kg diet for 28-32 days (equal to 0, 0.36, 1.7, 8.9 and 60 mg ergocryptine/kg body weight/day for females and 0, 0.34, 1.4, 6.6 and 44 mg ergocryptine/kg body weight/day for males). The present study describes the general toxicological effects; the effects on metabolic and hormonal parameters will be reported separately. Body weight, body weight gain, food intake and food efficiency were all decreased with a U-shaped dose-response curve, as in both sexes the ranking severity of effects was in the order 100-20-500 and 4 mg/kg diet. Other changes with a U-shaped dose-response relationship included: hematological parameters (decreased MCV and MCH), serum enzyme activities (slightly increased/decreased ALAT, ASAT, GGT), increased serum urea concentrations, decreased glomular filtration (creatinine and urea clearances), decreased absolute organ weights, increased and decreased relative organ weights, atrophy of thymus and in females atrophy of ovary and uterus with in the mid-dose groups no detectable morphological features of an oestric cycle in the uterus. Other parameters, including increased relative liver, heart and ovarian weights and necrosis of the tail, were influenced in a dose-related manner or only in the high dose group. The U-shaped changes for the parameters mentioned above might be caused by the U-shaped dose-response relationship for food intake, which may be explained by the dopaminergic properties of alpha-ergocryptine. It is concluded that in rats fed ergocryptine for 28 days the dose-effect curve is rather steep and that the NOAEL is 4 mg/kg diet.

Topics: Animals; Body Weight; Clinical Chemistry Tests; Dopamine Agonists; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Eating; Energy Metabolism; Ergolines; Estrus; Female; Male; No-Observed-Adverse-Effect Level; Organ Size; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Weight Gain

The effects of the prolactin inhibiting drug, cabergoline, on pregnant and lactating marsupials were investigated in four species from three diverse families: the tammar wallaby, Macropus eugenii, the quokka, Setonix brachyurus, the brushtail possum, Trichosurus vulpecula, and the fat-tailed dunnart, Sminthopsis crassicaudata. In tammar wallabies, 20 micrograms cabergoline kg-1 injected intramuscularly 1 day before expected birth did not alter the timing of parturition but neonates died within a day of birth, suggesting that the onset of lactation was compromised. During early lactation in tammars (56-69 days post partum), an intramuscular injection transiently retarded growth of the young, although they subsequently survived. This treatment induced reactivation of the quiescent corpus luteum and the blastocyst from diapause, so a new birth occurred 26-27 days later, despite the continued sucking of the young in the pouch. Intramuscular injection during late lactation (166-199 days post partum) apparently suppressed milk secretion since pouch young lost up to 20% of their bodyweight or died within 7 days of treatment. Oral administration of cabergoline had no effect on the growth of the young or on the quiescent corpus luteum and diapausing blastocyst. Quokkas showed similar responses to tammars after treatment in late lactation. Possums and dunnarts were less sensitive to injected cabergoline than the two macropodid species, and possums showed no response to oral administration. The lack of response of these marsupial species to oral cabergoline treatment suggests that accidental ingestion of baits, containing 20 micrograms cabergoline kg-1, used to control introduced eutherian pests such as the red fox, Vulpes vulpes, or the feral cat, Felis cattus, should not affect the reproduction of native marsupials.

Topics: Administration, Oral; Animals; Animals, Newborn; Body Weight; Cabergoline; Dopamine Agonists; Ergolines; Female; Injections, Intramuscular; Lactation; Macropodidae; Marsupialia; Pregnancy; Pregnancy, Animal; Prolactin; Reproduction

1. The effects of mesulergine, a 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) receptor antagonist with dopamine (DA) agonistic properties, on rats diet selection over a seven day period and on 5-HT and DA turnover was studied. 2. Three groups of male Wistar rats were individually caged and ad libitum fed with a standard (SD) and 50% sweet carbohydrate enriched diet (CED). Food intake was measured daily 4 hrs and 24 hrs after i.p. injections of mesulergine (1 and 3 mg/kg) or vehicle. 5-HT and 5-HIAA in hypothalamus (Hy), Striatum (St) and hippocampus (Hi) as well as DA and DOPAC in (Hy) and (St) were assayed at the 8th day of the experiment. 3. There was a dose dependent increase of SD consumption 4 hrs after mesulergine treatment while the CED remained unchanged with total food intake dose dependently increased as a consequence. At 24 hrs measurements SD consumption was increased only for the dose of 1 mg/kg of mesulergine, while a dose dependent decrease of CED intake was observed. Total food intake was unchanged for the dose of 1 mg/kg and decreased with the dose of 3 mg/kg consequently. A dose dependent decrease of rats body weight was observed too. 4. A significant increase of 5-HIAA/5-HT ratio in (Hy) and (St) for the dose of 1 mg/kg and in (Hi) for the dose of 3 mg/kg with no changes of DA turnover were found. 5. The above data suggest a dual mode of action of mesulergine presented as a short term hyperphagia due to simultaneous antiserotonergic and dopaminergic activity and long-term hypophagia due to long-term agonistic effects of dopaminergic neurons.

Topics: Animals; Body Weight; Brain Chemistry; Dietary Carbohydrates; Dopamine; Dopamine Agonists; Ergolines; Food Preferences; Male; Rats; Rats, Wistar; Serotonin; Serotonin Antagonists

Dopamine agonists are known to increase the incidence of Leydig cell hyperplasia/adenomas when administered to rats over periods of 1-2 years. We have examined the early changes in factors affecting Leydig cell growth/hyperplasia after chronic oral administration of one of these dopamine agonists, Mesulergine (CU32-085) [N-(1-6-dimethylergolin-8 alpha-yl)-N,N-dimethylsulphamide hydrochloride), to Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats. Eight-week-old rats were given the dopamine agonist (2 mg/kg body weight/day) in food for 5 or 57 weeks. The dopamine agonist treatment had no significant effect on food intake, body weight, and testis and seminal vesicle size, but significantly decreased testicular interstitial fluid volume at 5 weeks (by 51%). Leydig cells isolated from rats treated with the dopamine agonist for 5 weeks exhibited an increase in the rate of protein synthesis compared with the controls (by 28%). This treatment, however, had no significant effect on the number of Leydig cells or macrophages as assessed by histological examination of testicular sections. Treatment with the dopamine agonist for 57 weeks caused a 36 and 28% increase in the number of Leydig cells and macrophages, respectively. Nodules of Leydig cells, indicating the first signs of tumor development, were present in testes from the 57- but not the 5-week-treated animals or the controls of both groups, although an increase in the number of Leydig cells occurred with aging. Thick-walled arterioles were found in the intertubular spaces of the testis sections from rats treated for 57 weeks. These findings suggest that chronic treatment of male SD rats with the dopamine agonist causes hypertrophy of Leydig cells within 5 weeks (as assessed by [3H]methionine incorporation), followed by hyperplasia within 2 years, prior to the development of Leydig cell adenomas, which occur within 1-2 years after the initiation of treatment.

Topics: Adenoma; Animals; Antiparkinson Agents; Body Weight; Dopamine Agonists; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Ergolines; Extracellular Space; Hyperplasia; Leydig Cell Tumor; Leydig Cells; Male; Organ Size; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Testicular Neoplasms

The objective of the present study was to investigate the effects of chronic activation of dopamine D2 receptors on the development of grafted fetal rat mesencephalic dopaminergic neurons. Therefore, unilaterally 6-hydroxydopamine - lesioned rats received intrastriatal mesencephalic cell suspension grafts and were subsequently chronically treated with the selective dopamine D2 receptor agonist LY 171555 (Quinpirole). After treatment for 6 consecutive weeks, the rats were processed for tyrosine-hydroxylase immunocytochemistry to assess the survival and outgrowth from grafted dopaminergic neurons. morphological analysis revealed that, like the volume and morphology of the graft, neither the number nor the cell area of grafted dopaminergic neurons was significantly different between vehicle- and LY 171555-treated animals. To obtain a quantitative estimate of the graft-derived dopaminergic reinnervation, a computerized image analysis system was used. Using this procedure, which was based on the densitometric measurement of tyrosine hydroxylase immunoreactivity in the area adjacent to the grafted tissue, it was found that the extent of graft-derived outgrowth also appeared to be unaffected upon chronic treatment with LY 171555. It is concluded that long-term concurrent administration of a dopamine D2 receptor agonist for 6 consecutive weeks does not impair the survival and outgrowth of grafted rat fetal mesencephalic dopaminergic neurons.

Topics: Animals; Behavior, Animal; Body Weight; Cell Count; Cell Survival; Dopamine; Dopamine Agonists; Ergolines; Fetal Tissue Transplantation; Graft Survival; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; Immunohistochemistry; Male; Mesencephalon; Neostriatum; Neurites; Neurons; Oxidopamine; Quinpirole; Rats; Rats, Wistar; Receptors, Dopamine D2; Time Factors; Tyrosine 3-Monooxygenase

Quinpirole (0.25, 0.5 and 1.0 mg/kg) was administered by intraperitoneal injection to pair-housed adult DBA/2 mice. Controls received injections of physiological saline. Effects on behaviour during 5 min social encounters with untreated partners were examined by ethological procedures, commencing at 30 min after injection. Behaviour was examined in an aversive and less aversive situation, an unfamiliar neutral cage and the home cage. Behavioural effects were then assessed in a two-compartment black and white test box. Quinpirole dose-dependently increased the frequency and duration of flight, including the specific element "retreat". At 0.5 mg/kg, the element, "freeze", was also increased during encounters in the neutral cage. Immobility (a flaccid sitting posture) and sniffing of the substrate were increased by quinpirole to a similar extent at all dose levels, while non-social activity and social investigation were reduced. The significance of the effects of quinpirole in the home cage and neutral cage were qualitatively similar; the only quantitative differences were a greater enhancement of the duration of immobility and the frequency of substrate sniffing in the home cage. In the light-dark box, quinpirole reduced the number of transitions between light and dark compartments and decreased line crossings and scans/unit time in the light compartment, although it increased the amount of time in the light compartment into which mice had been originally placed. The induction of immobility and decrease of several active behavioural responses may arise from a D2 autoreceptor inhibition of locomotor activity.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Topics: Animals; Behavior, Animal; Body Weight; Dopamine Agents; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Ergolines; Injections, Intraperitoneal; Interpersonal Relations; Light; Male; Mice; Mice, Inbred DBA; Quinpirole

The psychopharmacological responses to separate and combined stimulation of dopamine D1 and D2 receptors were examined in neonatal (postnatal day 3-4, P3-4), infant (P10-11) and weanling (P21-22) rat pups. Thirty minutes prior to testing rat pups received a subcutaneous (SC) injection of saline, 1.0 (P3-4, P10-11) or 0.5 (P21-22) mg/kg of the D2 agonist quinpirole. Fifteen minutes later all animals received an additional SC injection of 0, 0.01, 0.1, 1.0 or 10.0 mg/kg of the D1 agonist SKF-38393. Pups were tested for 5 min via a time-sampling procedure in a humidity controlled incubator for 3- and 10-day-old animals and in a divided glass aquarium for 21-day-old pups. Although administration of either agonist alone induced increases in forward locomotion and/or sniffing behavior at all test ages, the adult-typical grooming response to SKF-38393 and increase in vertical movements in response to quinpirole were not evident until weaning. Similarly, although combined administration of the agonists induced synergistic responding at each test age, only weanlings exhibited an adult-typical synergistic increase in licking. Thus, although the D1 and D2 receptor subtypes appear to be functionally present and coupled in some fashion throughout the neonatal to weanling age period, ontogenetic differences are evident in the behavioral responses elicited by separate and combined stimulation of these receptor subtypes.

Topics: 2,3,4,5-Tetrahydro-7,8-dihydroxy-1-phenyl-1H-3-benzazepine; Aging; Animals; Animals, Newborn; Behavior, Animal; Body Temperature; Body Weight; Dopamine Agents; Ergolines; Female; Grooming; Locomotion; Male; Quinpirole; Rats; Rats, Inbred Strains; Receptors, Dopamine; Receptors, Dopamine D1; Receptors, Dopamine D2; Stimulation, Chemical

Extracellular recordings from single nigrostriatal dopamine (DA) neurons in rats revealed significantly reduced neuronal sensitivity to the inhibitory effects of i.v. apomorphine following repeated amphetamine (4 mg/kg per day i.p., 14 days). This effect was reversed by acute SCH 23390. Quinpirole sensitivity was reduced in amphetamine-treated rats only following acute SKF 38393 pretreatment. These results suggest that, in amphetamine-treated animals, D-1 receptor activation is important for the expression of reduced nigrostriatal DA neuron sensitivity to apomorphine.

Topics: Amphetamine; Animals; Apomorphine; Body Weight; Dopamine; Dopamine Agents; Electrophysiology; Ergolines; Male; Neurons; Quinpirole; Rats; Rats, Inbred Strains

Cabergoline 1-[(6-allylergolin-8 beta-yl)carbonyl]-1-[3-(dimethylamino) propyl]-3-ethylurea is a recently developed ergot derivative with a long-lasting dopamine agonist action. We now studied the ability of cabergoline to counteract the development of a prolactin-secreting tumor (prolactinoma) induced in female rats by long-term administration of high doses of estrogens. The effect of cabergoline was compared to that of bromocriptine. Cabergoline (0.6 mg/kg p.o.) had a marked and sustained prolactin-lowering effect in freely moving female rats, its effect still being present 3 days after a single dose. Bromocriptine, at a dose 5-fold higher (3 mg/kg s.c.), induced a strong and short-lasting prolactin inhibitory effect which, however, had completely disappeared 24 h post-injection. Intermittent administration of cabergoline (0.6 mg/kg p.o. every 3 days), starting from the first day of estrogen treatment, completely counteracted the development of the prolactinoma, as judged by the weight of the pituitary and the stimulating effect of estrogens on plasma prolactin and mitotic rate and DNA synthesis of pituitary cells. These effects of cabergoline were shared by a 5-fold higher dose of bromocriptine (3 mg/kg s.c.) given daily. The potent anti-tumorigenic effect of cabergoline, coupled to a sustained prolactin-lowering effect, the most prolonged ever seen with an ergot derivative, makes cabergoline a most suitable drug for the treatment of human macroprolactinomas.

Topics: Adenoma; Animals; Antineoplastic Agents; Body Weight; Bromocriptine; Cabergoline; DNA, Neoplasm; Ergolines; Estrogens; Female; Mitosis; Pituitary Neoplasms; Prolactin; Rats

The osmoregulatory responses to warmer temperatures and hormone treatment in cold-adapted (5 degrees C) Rana catesbeiana tadpoles and newly metamorphosed frogs were examined. Tadpoles transferred to 11 degrees C and 18 degrees C and left for 5 days lost 7% and 10% of their body weight. Plasma [Na+] was elevated 28% and 21%, respectively. Control (5 degrees C) animals maintained their body weight and plasma [Na+] constant. Daily treatment with either ovine prolactin (oPRL) or ovine growth hormone (oGH) prevented the weight loss and the increase in extracellular [Na+] that occurred when tadpoles were transferred to 18 degrees C. Neither propylthiouracil (PTU) nor arginine vasotocin (AVT) were effective in countering temperature-induced weight loss in tadpoles. Newly metamorphosed frogs transferred to 18 degrees C also lost weight; this was not prevented by daily treatment with saline, oPRL, oGH or PTU. However, in frogs treated daily with AVT, initial BW was regained by day 6. When warm-adapted (18 degrees C) tadpoles were treated daily for 18 days with saline, bPRL, bGH, thyroxine (T4), ergocornine, cortisol, or cortisol + T4, bPRL was most effective in retarding weight loss and maintaining body water content, whereas T4 + cortisol caused the greatest loss of weight and body water. By day 20, the correlations between weight loss and both body water content and hematocrit were highly significant. These data suggest that reported increases in plasma solute concentrations in larval amphibians may actually reflect decreases in extracellular fluid volume, rather than increased amounts of solutes, per se.

Topics: Animals; Body Water; Body Weight; Ergolines; Growth Hormone; Hormones; Hydrocortisone; Larva; Prolactin; Propylthiouracil; Rana catesbeiana; Sodium; Sodium Chloride; Temperature; Thyroxine; Vasotocin; Water-Electrolyte Balance

In a crossover design experiment, pergolide mesylate significantly suppressed food intake and body weight in spayed female rats. Inhibition of food intake by a constant dose of pergolide progressively diminished with repeated administrations. Pergolide continued to suppress body weight with no indications of tolerance. When pergolide was discontinued, body weight increased sufficiently to compensate for the loss and failure to gain during drug treatment. A second experiment investigated the observation that animals injected first with vehicle showed greater anorexia when subsequently injected with pergolide than did animals injected first with pergolide. In addition, tolerance was further assessed by administering on two occasions a higher dose of pergolide. Following chronic pergolide treatment, this dose was insufficient to reinstate anorexia; however, after a period of abstinence, this dose produced anorexia comparable to that observed at the beginning of pergolide treatment. Due to pergolide mesylate's action as a postsynaptic dopamine agonist, a dopaminergic neural system is implicated in pergolide induced anorexia.

Topics: Animals; Appetite Depressants; Body Weight; Ergolines; Feeding Behavior; Female; Hysterectomy; Ovariectomy; Pergolide; Rats; Time Factors

The influence of hypophysectomy on biochemical indices of striatal dopamine target cell supersensitivity induced by prolonged haloperidol treatment was investigated in the rat. Hypophysectomy itself did not modify dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC) levels but slightly enhanced acetylcholine concentrations in the striatum. Hypophysectomy failed to affect the ability of haloperidol, apomorphine and pergolide to alter these biochemical parameters after acute administration. Prolonged administration of haloperidol (by means of osmotic minipumps delivering 2.5 micrograms/h) for 14 days caused a decrease in DOPAC and an increase in acetylcholine levels in the striatum during withdrawal; these effects were of a similar magnitude in sham-operated and hypophysectomized rats. Moreover, there was a similar degree of tolerance to the elevation of DOPAC and to the diminution of acetylcholine concentrations in striatum in response to challenge with haloperidol during withdrawal in sham-operated and hypophysectomized animals. Finally, a similar supersensitive biochemical response to pergolide (decrease in DOPAC and increase in acetylcholine levels) was observed in both hypophysectomized and sham-operated animals after prolonged haloperidol treatment. These data suggest that hypophyseal factors do not affect the development of striatal dopamine target cell supersensitivity caused by prolonged haloperidol treatment.

Topics: Acetylcholine; Animals; Apomorphine; Body Weight; Brain Chemistry; Corpus Striatum; Dopamine; Ergolines; Haloperidol; Humans; Hypophysectomy; Male; Pergolide; Rats; Rats, Inbred Strains; Substance Withdrawal Syndrome

The administration of oestradiol (oestradiol benzoate as an aqueous microcrystal suspension, Agofolin depot SPOFA, 1 mg i.m. twice a week) leads in rats to an increase in adenohypophyseal weight and in polyphenol oxidase activity in the serum (ceruloplasmin) and in the base of the brain (the floor of the third ventricle). The simultaneous peroral administration of the ergoline derivatives D-6-methyl-8-ergoline-(i)-yl acetic acid amide (Deprenon SPOFA) or N-(D-6-methyl-8-isoergolenyl)-N',N'-diethyl carbamide hydrogen maleate (lisuride, Lysenyl SPOFA) in a dose of 200 micrograms/rat/day markedly inhibited all three reactions. The two derivatives were equally effective. Inhibition of the increase in hypothalamic polyphenol oxidase activity, with resultant reduced disintegration of hypothalamic dopamine, may play a role in the mechanism of inhibition of the pituitary reaction to oestradiol caused by dopaminergic agonists. The agonists can also, of course, act like dopamine in the adenohypophysis itself.

Topics: Animals; Body Weight; Catechol Oxidase; Ceruloplasmin; Ergolines; Estradiol; Hypothalamus; Lisuride; Male; Organ Size; Pituitary Gland, Anterior; Rats; Rats, Inbred Strains; Receptors, Dopamine

Six consanguine monogamous SHR couples (G1) were treated from 5 weeks of age on with an alpha blocker, nicergoline, 0.1 mg/kg/day i.p.. Male rats were treated without interruption; treatment was withheld in female rats from delivery to weaning. They were compare to six similar SHR couples who were only daily i.p. injected with the same volume of solvent in the same conditions as controls, as well as with naive (untreated) rats. Second (G2) and third (G3) generation rats (untreated) were studied. In G1 rats, systolic blood pressure (SBP), heart rate, heart weight/body weight ratio and bulbar noradrenaline content were decreased (compared to control or naive rats), while plasma renin activity (PRA) and hypothalamic noradrenaline content were not changed. In G2 rats, SBP and PRA were decreased, all other parameters being unchanged. No parameter was changed in G3 rats. This appears to be the first report of a preventive effect of antenatal treatment on the development of hypertension in SHR.

Topics: Animals; Blood Pressure; Body Weight; Ergolines; Female; Heart Rate; Hypertension; Hypothalamus; Male; Nicergoline; Norepinephrine; Rats; Rats, Inbred Strains

Topics: Aggression; Animals; Body Weight; Bromocriptine; Ergolines; Ergot Alkaloids; Female; Humans; Lactation; Male; Mice; Pregnancy; Prolactin; Sucking Behavior

The effects of 2-bromo-alpha-ergocryptine (CB-154) administration in maturing female rats with precocious puberty induced by hypothalamic lesions, as well as the milk secretion rate in these animals after their first parturition were studied. Treatment with CB-154 inhibited precocious vaginal opening induced by hypothalamic lesions. After the treatment with the derivative was terminated, the ovulatory response was not different from that of intact control rats. After their first parturition lesioned rats accumulate milk at a faster rate, following an initial depletion period than their non-operated controls. These results suggest than an alteration in prolactin release may be involved in determining the precocious puberty induced by lesions of the anterior hypothalamic area.

Topics: Animals; Body Weight; Bromocriptine; Ergolines; Female; Hypothalamus; Lactation; Milk; Pregnancy; Prolactin; Rats; Secretory Rate; Sexual Maturation

Topics: Alanine Transaminase; Animals; ATP Citrate (pro-S)-Lyase; Birds; Body Weight; Bromocriptine; Coturnix; Ergolines; Fructose-Bisphosphatase; Glucose; Glucosephosphate Dehydrogenase; Hexokinase; Lipids; Liver; Malate Dehydrogenase; Male; Mitochondria, Liver; Organ Size; Phosphogluconate Dehydrogenase; Prolactin; Proteins; Quail

In post-partum lactating rats, sucking by the young was associated with high prolactin release and maintenance of lactation but severe inhibition of LH and FSH release and suspension of oestrous cycles. Shortly after the pups were removed on day 22 post partum LH and FSH release returned to normal and oestrous cycles resumed. Twice-daily injections of ergocornine methanesulphonate (ERG) into mothers beginning at 5 or 7 days post partum, resulted in sustained inhibition of prolactin release and diminished mild secretion. By frequent exchange of pups between control and ERG-treated mothers, it was possible to maintain vigorous sucking and almost normal pup growth despite low serum prolactin levels and diminished lactation. In these rats, serum levels of LH remained low during 11 or more days of treatment with ERG, but serum FSH was consistently higher than in untreated control mothers. After 11 or more days of ERG treatment, most rats showed a return to normal LH and FSH release and resumption of oestrous cycles. These results suggest (a) that the sucking stimulus rather than high prolactin levels in the circulation is mainly responsible for inhibition of LH and FSH release during the first 11 days post partum, (b) that the sucking stimulus acts to increase prolactin and inhibit LH release by separate hypothalamic mechanisms, and (c) that administration of ERG results in diminished prolactin release and lactation, and in increased release of FSH and subsequently of LH with earlier resumption of oestrous cycles.

Topics: Animals; Body Weight; Ergolines; Estrus; Female; Gonadotropins; Lactation; Pregnancy; Prolactin; Rats; Sucking Behavior

The lactating rabbit responds to single injections of the inhibitor of prolactin secretion 2-Br-alpha-ergokryptine-mesilate (CB 154) by a reversible reduction in milk yield, which is dose-dependent. Inhibition of galactopoiesis by CB 154 is also observed in rats, dogs, pigs and in woman, but not in goats and cattle. This points to a difference in prolactin dependence of galactopoiesis in the two groups.

Topics: Animals; Animals, Newborn; Body Weight; Bromocriptine; Depression, Chemical; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Ergolines; Female; Intestinal Absorption; Lactation; Milk; Milk Ejection; Pregnancy; Prolactin; Rabbits; Species Specificity

The influence of 2-bromo-alpha-ergocryptine (CB-154) and 2-chloro-6-methyl-ergoline-8beta-acetonitrile methanesulfonate (lergotrile mesylate) on prolactin (PRL) and growth hormone (GH) secretion in mice was investigated. Both drugs inhibited the nursing-induced rise in serum PRL in lactating mice, CB-154 being effective at a somewhat lower dosage than lergotrile mesylate. Both drugs reduced basal concentrations of serum PRL by more than 90% within an hr after administration, but the effect of CB-154 lasted for several hr longer than that of lergotrile mesylate. CB-154 did not change the resting concentrations of GH in mice, but it promoted the induction of GH release by nursing; injection of lergotrile mesylate, on the other hand, seemed to enhance the basal concentrations of GH in lactating mice that were separated from their young for 12 hr. The results show that both drugs can be used successfully for reducing PRL secretion in the mouse.

Topics: Acetonitriles; Animals; Body Weight; Bromocriptine; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Ergolines; Female; Growth Hormone; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Organ Size; Pituitary Gland; Prolactin

Topics: Animals; Body Weight; Ergolines; Feeding Behavior; Female; Hydrocortisone; Lactation; Mammary Glands, Animal; Oxytocin; Pregnancy; Prolactin; Rats

One group of male Syrian hamsters received diethylstilbestrol (DES) over a period of 9 months. All developed widespread and severe renal tumors. Another group of male Syrian hamsters was given DES plus 2-bromo-alpha-ergocryptine methanesulfonate (CB154) over the same period. These hamsters either did not develop renal tumors or had renal tumors that were minimal in severity. DES treatment induced hyperplastic and neoplastic changes in the intermediate lobe of the pituitary glands of treated animals, increased the number of prolactin-secreting cells, and decreased the number of somatotrophin-secreting cells. Adding CB154 significantly inhibited those changes in the pituitary gland. Histopathologic and ultrastructural examinations indicated that the renal tumors were carcinomas originating from proximal convoluted tubules.

Topics: Animals; Body Weight; Bromocriptine; Cell Count; Cricetinae; Diethylstilbestrol; Ergolines; Growth Hormone; Hyperplasia; Kidney Neoplasms; Kidney Tubules, Proximal; Male; Mesylates; Organ Size; Pituitary Gland; Pituitary Neoplasms; Prolactin; Testis

Topics: Animals; Body Weight; Bromocriptine; Depression, Chemical; Diethylstilbestrol; Ergolines; Growth Hormone; Male; Mitosis; Organ Size; Pituitary Gland; Pituitary Gland, Anterior; Prolactin; Rats; Stimulation, Chemical

The ability of 2 Br-alpha-ergocryptine (CB-154) to suppress serum prolactin levels was examined in animals under the influence of continuous estrogen stimulation. A single injection of polyestradiol phosphate (Estradurin) once every 21 days produced a constant elevation of serum prolactin. The simultaneous administration of 1 mg/day of CB-154 to estrogenized animals suppressed serum prolactin levels below that of Estradurin alone but the levels were significantly greater than those of animals receiving CB-154 alone. It was suggested that, while CB-154 prevents the release of prolactin, estrogen stimulates prolactin synthesis despite the block of its release. Ether anesthesia may be capable of partially overriding the block of CB-154 and released the stored hormone from the gland.

Topics: Animals; Body Weight; Bromocriptine; Castration; Depression, Chemical; Ergolines; Estradiol; Female; Injections, Subcutaneous; Organ Size; Organophosphorus Compounds; Ovary; Polymers; Prolactin; Rats; Stimulation, Chemical; Tartrates; Time Factors; Vaginal Smears

Topics: Acetonitriles; Adrenal Glands; Animals; Body Weight; Ergolines; Estrus; Female; Mammary Neoplasms, Experimental; Mice; Mice, Inbred C3H; Organ Size; Ovary; Parity; Pituitary Gland; Precancerous Conditions; Pregnancy; Uterus

Topics: Administration, Oral; Animals; Animals, Newborn; Body Weight; Depression, Chemical; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Ergolines; Female; Lactation; Pregnancy; Rats; Urea

Topics: Administration, Oral; Animals; Body Weight; Drug Synergism; Ergolines; Female; Lactation; Lethal Dose 50; Lisuride; Oxytocin; Pregnancy; Prolactin; Urea

Topics: Animals; Body Weight; Ergolines; Female; Mammary Glands, Animal; Mice; Nitriles; Organ Size; Ovary

Topics: Acetamides; Animals; Body Weight; Ergolines; Female; Lactation; Milk; Pregnancy; Rats