N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptors are the only neurotransmitter receptors whose activation requires two distinct agonists. Heterotetramers of two GluN1 and two GluN2 subunits, NMDA receptors are broadly distributed in the central nervous system, where they mediate excitatory currents in response to synaptic glutamate release. Pore opening depends on the concurrent presence of glycine, which...

conclusions our findings support the role of nmdars in pregabalin antinociception, because the nmdar agonist, unlike the antagonist, decreased the antinociceptive effect of pregabalin, even if tail flick is not an adequate pain assessment method in this regard. background pregabalin as a new anticonvulsant has been used in different pain treatments. objectives the aim of this study was to inves...

Neural activity is critical for the refinement of neural circuitry during development, although the mechanisms involved in stabilizing appropriate connectivity remain unclear. It has been proposed that the insertion of AMPA receptors at synapses with only NMDA receptors ("silent synapses") mediates this stabilization, leading to an increasing contribution from AMPA receptors as development proc...

Clinical studies on patients with stress-related neuropsychiatric disorders reported functional and morphological changes in brain areas where glutamatergic transmission is predominant, including frontal and prefrontal areas. In line with this evidence, several preclinical works suggest that glutamate receptors are targets of both rapid and long-lasting effects of stress. Here we found that acu...

The C. elegans polymodal ASH sensory neurons detect mechanical, osmotic, and chemical stimuli and release glutamate to signal avoidance responses. To investigate the mechanisms of this polymodal signaling, we have characterized the role of postsynaptic glutamate receptors in mediating the response to these distinct stimuli. By studying the behavioral and electrophysiological properties of worms...

In conditions of facilitated synaptic release, CA3/CA1 synapses generate anomalously slow NMDA receptor-mediated EPSCs (EPSC(NMDA)). Such a time course has been attributed to the cooperation of synapses through glutamate spillover. Imitating a natural pattern of activity, we have applied short bursts (2-7 stimuli) of high-frequency stimulation and observed a spike-to-spike slow-down of the EPSC...

conclusions anesthesiologists need to be aware of dextromethorphan’s clinical pharmacology because recreational abuse of the drug has become increasingly common in adolescents and young adults. case presentation a 30-year-old man with a history of a nasal fracture was scheduled to undergo an elective septorhinoplasty. he reported daily consumption of large quantities (1440 to 1800 mg) of dextro...

Introduction: Major depressive disorder is often associated with suicidal tendencies, and this condition accentuates the need for rapid-acting antidepressants. We previously reported that alkaloids (ALK) from Trichilia monadelpha possess antidepressant action in acute animal models of depression and that this effect is mediated through the monoamine and L-arginine-NO-cGMP pathways. This study i...