Chronic Methamphetamine Alters Neural Oscillations and Population Spikes Associated with Synaptic Plasticity, thus Long- Term Potentiation in the Guinea Pig Hippocampus, in vivo

Chronic methamphetamine (METH) users perform poorly compared to controls on tasks of verbal and nonverbal memory, recognition, attention, and decision-making. The neural mechanisms that underlie these cognitive deficits are unclear. This was the focus of the study presented here. We treated male guinea pigs with 10 mg/kg/day METH (N=12) or phosphate buffered saline (PBS, N= 8) for 7 days. Drugs were administered as a continuous infusion using ALZET mini-pumps. After 7 days of treatment a subset of guinea pigs from each group (METH = 6 and PBS = 4) were anesthetized with urethane (1500 mg/kg) and local field potentials and evoked population spikes across the CA3/CA1 synapses were obtained from the hippocampus in vivo. Similar recordings were conducted in the remaining subset of guinea pigs (i.e., METH = 6 and PBS = 4) after 7 days of drug washout. We found that METH-treated guinea pigs exhibited increased spontaneous CA1 cell discharges and had diminished slow wave oscillations. By contrast, PBS controls exhibited fewer spontaneous discharges and had prominent slow wave oscillations whose peaks were inundated with robust ‘ripples’, a hallmark of transfer of information from the hippocampus to neocortical structures. We also found that long-term potentiation (LTP, a cellular correlate of learning and memory) was attenuated in the METH-treated guinea pigs when compared to PBS controls. The effects of METH on CA1 cell discharges, oscillations, and LTP were amplified after the 7-day washout. The amplification of the effects during the washout period may be caused by the depletion of METH’s neuroprotective factors. Taken together, our results raise the possibility that METH-induced changes in CA1 network properties may partly underlie the reported memory impairments associated with the drug

Developing school level financial reporting guidelines for Illinois public school districts

Includes bibliographical references (pages [129]-138)The need for school-level financial reporting accelerated during the 1990s as public-school stakeholders continually expressed concern over the manner in which school districts allocated resources. District-level fiscal data were insufficient in addressing such issues as equity, adequacy, and student achievement. School-level fiscal reporting provides educational decision makers with a clearer view of a school's operation and resource allocation. The purpose of this study was to develop school-level financial guidelines for Illinois public school districts by analyzing fiscal reporting documents from states currently collecting school-level data. The qualitative research method was used for this study. Through document analysis design, the study identified current reporting practices from states collecting school-level fiscal data. The study explored the implementation of school-level reporting in Illinois by examining current data collection methods, the need to collect additional data, and whether increased district resources would be necessary to collect and maintain the data. Also, the benefits of school-level fiscal reporting for Illinois public school stakeholders were discussed. The study revealed that 15 states currently require school-level fiscal reporting. Key elements of school-site reporting included the need to redesign the account code structure and collect specific staff and student nonfiscal data. A clear focus on how the data are to be used would determine the type of fiscal information to be collected and encourage acceptance of the new reporting model by school-district personnel. School-level fiscal reporting gives public-school officials and policymakers more and better information to use when evaluating instructional programs and services for students. This study recommends that Illinois public school districts collect fiscal data at the school site for the purpose of reporting costs associated with the instruction of students. System-wide expenses are to remain as district-level costs and reported as such. As a result of this study, a new account code structure for school-level fiscal reporting in Illinois was developed.Ed.D. (Doctor of Education

Reduced Glutathione System: Role in Cancer Development, Prevention and Treatment (Review)

Reduced glutathione (GSH), a ubiquitous thiol-containing tripeptide, is unanimously recognized to play a central role in cell biology. It is highly implicated in the cellular defense against xenobiotics and naturally occurring deleterious compounds such as free radicals and hydroperoxides. Consequently, GSH is an essential actor in several human diseases including cancer and cardio-vascular diseases. Its implication in oncogenesis has led to the development of new strategies to improve both prevention and treatment of cancer. The present review proposes an in depth analysis or our current knowledge of the relations between GSH and cancer

Chronic Methamphetamine Alters Neural Oscillations and Synaptic Plasticity in the Hippocampus in Guinea Pigs, In Vivo

Chronic methamphetamine (METH) users perform poorly compared to controls on memory tasks. The neural mechanisms that underlie these deficits are unclear. This was the focus of the study. We treated male guinea pigs with 10 mg/kg/day METH (N=12) or phosphate buffered saline (PBS, N= 8) for 7 days. Drugs were continuously infused using ALZET mini-pumps. After 7 days of treatment a subset of guinea pigs from each group (METH = 6 and PBS = 4) were anesthetized with urethane (1500 mg/kg) and local field potentials across the CA3/CA1 synapses were obtained from the hippocampus in vivo. Similar recordings were conducted in the remaining subset of guinea pigs (i.e., METH = 6 and PBS = 4) after 7 days of drug washout. We found that METH-treated guinea pigs had increased spontaneous cell discharges and had reduced slow wave oscillations. By contrast, PBS controls exhibited fewer spontaneous discharges and had prominent slow wave oscillations whose peaks contained robust ‘ripples’, a hallmark of transfer of information from the hippocampus to neocortical structures. We also found that long-term potentiation (LTP, a cellular correlate of learning and memory) was attenuated in the METH-treated guinea pigs compared to PBS controls. The effects of METH on CA1 cell discharges, oscillations and LTP were still present even after the 7-day washout. Our results show that METH-induced changes to CA1 network properties may partly underlie the reported memory impairments associated with the drug

Sodium butyrate and trichostatin-a induce apoptosis in human breast cancer cells but not in normal human mammary epithelial cells

peer reviewe

S-acetyl-glutathione selectively induces apoptosis in human lymphoma cells through a GSH-independent mechanism

Reduced apoptosis is associated to cancer development. Agents able to restore the programmed cell death responsiveness of cancer cells are foreseen as potential effective cancer therapies. In this study, we report that a glutathione-S-derivative, S-acetyl-glutathione (Sag), induces significant apoptosis in three human lymphoma cell lines, including Daudi, Raji and Jurkat cells while it had no or little effect on either Hut-78 lymphoma cells or the normal BT lymphocytes. We used Annexin-V FACS analysis and DNA laddering to demonstrate that Sag activated apoptosis in the three sensitive cell lines in a dose- and time-dependent-fashion. Using mercury orange staining and FACS analysis, we showed that Sag generated an intracellular GSH depletion in Daudi, Raji and Jurkat cells but not in Hut-78 or the normal BT cells. These data provide direct evidence that Sag specifically activates programmed cell death in lymphoma cells through, at least in part, a depletion of intracellular GSH rather than an increase, as previously suggested. Because of its selective effect on cancer cells, Sag appears as a promising new lymphoma cell apoptosis inducer with potential clinical value for lymphoma patients