Abstract
The present experiment examined effects of disulfiram (Antabuse®) administration on behavioral measures of nociception (hot plate and tail flick), peripheral muscular performance (grip strength), motivated performance, balance, and coordination (rotorod) in 24 male Sprague-Dawley rats during and 2 wk after an eight-day administration of disulfiram. In addition, peptidylglycine α-hydroxylating monooxygenase (PHM) activity in several tissues and levels of α-amidated α-melanocyte stimulating hormone (α-MSH) in the neurointermediate lobe of the pituitary were assayed to evaluate biochemical effects of disulfiram. These particular assays were included because it has been reported that disulfiram affects α-amidated peptides via alteration of PHM activity. Decrements in all behavioral measures, except tail flick, occurred after one week of disulfiram administration. Decrements in grip strength continued for the 2 wk after cessation of disulfiram. Dose-related reductions in changes in PHM activity and levels of α-MSH were found 2 wk after cessation of disulfiram administration. The time course of the results suggest that changes in PHM activity may underlie decrements in grip strength. The present experiment provides a paradigm for further investigations of effects of α-amidated peptides on behavior.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 409-415 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| Journal | Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior |
| Volume | 56 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Mar 1997 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- α-MSH
- Antabuse
- disulfiram
- grip strength
- hot plate
- PHM
- rotorod
- tail flick