Glucocorticoids (GCs) exert via glucocorticoid receptors (GRs) potent anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive effects. Emerging evidence indicates that an inflammatory process is involved in dopaminergic nigro-striatal neuronal loss in Parkinson's disease. We here report that the GR deficiency of transgenic (Tg) mice expressing GR antisense RNA from early embryonic life has a dramatic impact in "programming" the vulnerability of dopaminergic neurons to 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP). The GR deficiency of Tg mice exacerbates MPTP-induced toxicity to dopaminergic neurons, as revealed by both severe loss of tyrosine hydroxylase positive nigral neurons and sharp decreases in striatal levels of dopamine and its metabolites. In addition, the late increase in dopamine oxidative metabolism and ascorbic acid oxidative status in GR-deficient mice was far greater than in wild-type (Wt) mice. Inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) was sharply increased in activated astrocytes, macrophages/microglia of GR-deficient as compared with Wt mice. Moreover, GR-deficient microglia produced three- to fourfold higher nitrite levels than Wt mice; these increases preceded the loss of dopaminergic function and were resistant to GR the inhibitory effect of GC, pointing to peroxynitrites as candidate neurotoxic effectors. The iNOS inhibitor N6-(1-iminoethyl)-L-lysine normalized vulnerability of Tg mice, thus establishing a novel link between genetic impairment of GR function and vulnerability to MPTP.
A miniaturized biotelemetric device for the amperometric detection of brain tissue oxygen is presented. The new system, derived from a previous design, has been coupled with a carbon microsensor for the real-time detection of dissolved O 2 in the striatum of freely moving rats. The implantable device consists of a single-supply sensor driver, a current-to-voltage converter, a microcontroller, and a miniaturized data transmitter. The oxygen current is converted to a digital value by means of an analog-to-digital converter integrated in a peripheral interface controller (PIC). The digital data is sent to a personal computer using a six-byte packet protocol by means of a miniaturized 434 MHz amplitude modulation (AM) transmitter. The receiver unit is connected to a personal computer (PC) via a universal serial bus. Custom developed software allows the PC to store and plot received data. The electronics were calibrated and tested in vitro under different experimental conditions and exhibited high stability, low power consumption, and good linear response in the nanoampere current range. The in vivo results confirmed previously published observations on oxygen dynamics in the striatum of freely moving rats. The system serves as a rapid and reliable model for studying the effects of different drugs on brain oxygen and brain blood flow and it is suited to work with direct-reduction sensors or O 2 -consuming biosensors.Oxygen is the most important oxidative substrate for biochemical reactions and for the production of ATP in the brain. Tissue concentration of dissolved O 2 is regulated by the balance between blood supply and local utilization 1 and plays a key role in brain energy metabolism related to either glucose 2 or lactate 3 used as energy substrates.The electrochemical reduction of oxygen is a complex process which can occur on the sensor surface via two mechanisms. In the first, complete reduction occurs in a single step, without the formation of detectable intermediates: 4In the second mechanism, reduction of oxygen occurs in two steps with the formation of hydrogen peroxide as measurable intermediate: 4A wide variety of sensors have been used for direct-reduction of O 2 with the majority of measurements obtained using constant potential amperometry (CPA) at a noble metal microelectrode such gold 5 or platinum. 6 The use of carbon-based electrodes has been reported by several groups 7-9 and often they are preferred to Pt cathodes because of their in vivo stability and less surface poisoning. 9 Moreover, 10 µm Nafion-coated carbon fibers, coupled with fast scan voltammetry (FCV), have been used for the measurement of dissolved oxygen with a subsecond time resolution. 8 However, as previously discussed, 9 the ideal sensor size has to be greater than the dimension of blood capillaries (∼100 µm) for preventing direct blood sampling of dissolved oxygen. In this article we present a new oxygen sensor geometry (conical) particularly suited for in vivo applications, minimizing the tissue trauma related to the stereot...
In this study we present the real-time monitoring of three key brain neurochemical species in conscious rats using implantable amperometric electrodes interfaced to a biotelemetric device. The new system, derived from a previous design, was coupled with carbon-based microsensors and a platinum-based biosensor for the detection of ascorbic acid (AA), O2 and glucose in the striatum of untethered, freely-moving rats. The miniaturized device consisted of a single-supply sensor driver, a current-to-voltage converter, a microcontroller and a miniaturized data transmitter. The redox currents were digitized to digital values by means of an analog-to-digital converter integrated in a peripheral interface controller (PIC), and sent to a personal computer by means of a miniaturized AM transmitter. The electronics were calibrated and tested in vitro under different experimental conditions and exhibited high stability, low power consumption and good linear response in the nanoampere current range. The in-vivo results confirmed previously published observations on striatal AA, oxygen and glucose dynamics recorded in tethered rats. This approach, based on simple and inexpensive components, could be used as a rapid and reliable model for studying the effects of different drugs on brain neurochemical systems.
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