Full Description
Volume 15 of Handbook of Psychopharmacology represents the first of a new series of volumes whose aim is to bring earlier sections of the work up to date by describing the latest developments in the field. It is now seven years since the first Handbook volumes on Basic Neuropharmacology were published, and there have been many important advances. As in many other areas in science, progress in this field has depended to a considerable extent on the availability of new experimental methods, and Volume 15 reviews some major recent developments, including new autoradiographic techniques that allow direct visualization of drug and transmitter receptors in the nervous system, and the pinpointing of the precise locations of the changes in brain metabolism elicited by various drug treatments. Volumes 16 and 17 will cover two of the most active areas for basic research in psychopharmacology at the moment: the characterization of drug and transmitter receptors in brain by radioligand binding techniques, and studies of the role of small peptides in brain function. The latter area, in particular, illustrates how rapidly progress continues to be made in basic research on the mechanisms of chemical communication within the nervous system. Seven years ago when the Handbook first appeared none of the opioid peptides (enkephalins and endorphins) had yet been identified. Since then a whole new area of basic biological research has focused on these substances, and in addition we know of more than thirty other neuropeptides with putative eNS transmitter functions.
Contents
1 Electrochemical Detection Methods for Monoamine Measurements in Vitro and in Vivo.- 1. Introduction.- 2. Assay of Aromatic Amines by HPLC with Electrochemical Detection.- 3. Faradaic Electrochemistry in the CNS.- Appendix: Instrumentation for Electrochemical Studies.- Liquid Chromatography.- In Vivo Electrochemistry.- Commercial Voltammetric Equipment.- 4. References.- 2 Radioreceptor Assays for Neurotransmitters and Drugs.- 1. Introduction.- 2. Fundamentals of Receptor Binding Assays.- 3. Fundamentals of Radioreceptor Assays.- 4. Applications.- 5. Summary.- 6. References.- 3 Intracellular Recording from Neurons in Brain Slices in Vitro.- 1. Introduction.- 2. Procedures for Preparing and Maintaining Brain Slices.- 3. Intracellular Studies.- 4. Epileptogenesis.- 5. Synaptic Plasticity.- 6. Iontophoresis.- 7. Concluding Remarks.- 8. References.- 4 Capsaicin: A Chemical Probe for Sensory Neuron Mechanisms.- 1. Introduction.- 2. Chemical Analysis of Capsaicin and Related Natural Products.- 3. General Considerations of Capsaicin Administration.- 4. Effects on the Respiratory and Cardiovascular System.- 5. Neuroanatomical Observations.- 6. Neurophysiological Observations.- 7. Effects on Inflammation.- 8. Effects on Thermoregulation.- 9. Effects on the Gastrointestinal Tract.- 10. Noxious Properties and Effects on Nociception.- 11. Biochemical Observations.- 12. Structure-Activity Relationships.- 13. Summary and Perspectives.- 14. References.- 5 Excitatory Amino Acid Neurotoxins.- 1. Introduction.- 2. Pharmacology of Excitatory Amino Acids.- 3. Excitotoxins: Structure-Activity Relations.- 4. Kainic Acid.- 5. Other Excitotoxins.- 6. Practical Applications.- 7. Conclusion.- 8. References.- 6 High-Performance Liquid Chromatography: Purification and Characterization of Neuropeptides.- 1. Introduction.- 2. Equipment.- 3. HPLC Column.- 4. Reverse-Phase HPLC.- 5. Polar and Ion-Exchange Phases.- 6. Exclusion Chromatography.- 7. Strategy.- 8. Neuropeptide Analysis by HPLC.- 9. Neurological Disorders and Pain.- 10. Schizophrenia.- 11. Stimulation of Aldosterone Release.- 12. Future Trends: HPLC-MS.- 13. References.- 7 Localization of Drug and Neurotransmitter Receptors in Brain by Light Microscopic Autoradiography.- 1. Introduction.- 2. Methodology.- 3. Radiohistochemistry of Receptors as a Complement to Neurotransmitter Mapping.- 4. Suggestions about Mechanisms of CNS Drug Action.- 5. Other Uses of Receptor Mapping.- 6. Electron Microscopic Studies.- 7. Summary.- 8. References.- 8 Mapping Functional Alterations in the CNS with 14[C]Deoxyglucose.- 1. Introduction.- 2. General Methodological Considerations.- 3. Metabolic Consequences of Manipulating Central Neurotransmitter Systems.- 4. Glucose Utilization following Neuropharmacological Manipulations.- 5. Perspectives of Metabolic Mapping in Neuropharmacology.- 6. References.
