title: Central injections of nocistatin or its C-terminal hexapeptide exert anxiogenic-like effect on behaviour of mice in the plus-maze test.
abstract: . Nocistatin (NST) antagonizes several actions of nociceptin/orphanin FQ (N/OFQ), but acts on distinct receptors. As N/OFQ exerts anxiolytic-like actions in various tests, its behavioural actions in the elevated plus-maze (EPM) test were compared with those of bovine NST. 2. Five minutes after i.c.v. treatment, mice were placed on the EPM for 5 min and entries into and time spent on open and closed arms were recorded alongside other parameters. 3. NST (0.1 - 3 pmol) reduced percentages of entries into (control 39.6+/-3.1%, peak effect at 1 pmol NST 8.5+/-2.9%) and time spent on open arms (control 30.8+/-2.3%, NST 2.7+/-1.5%). The C-terminal hexapeptide of NST (NST-C6; 0.01 - 10 pmol) closely mimicked these actions of NST, with peak effects at 0.1 pmol. 4. N/OFQ (1 - 100 pmol) increased percentages of entries into (control 38.5+/-3.4%; peak effect at 10 pmol N/OFQ 67.9+/-4.9%) and time spent on open arms (control 32.0+/-3.8%; N/OFQ 74.9+/-5.8%). Closed arm entries, an index of locomotor activity, were unchanged by all peptides. 5. Effects of NST or NST-C6, but not N/OFQ, were still detectable 15 min after injection. Behaviour of animals co-injected with NST (1 pmol) or NST-C6 (0.1 pmol) plus N/OFQ (10 pmol) was indistinguishable from that of controls. 6. These results reveal potent anxiogenic-like actions of NST and NST-C6, and confirm the anxiolytic-like properties of N/OFQ. As NST and N/OFQ both derive from preproN/OF, anxiety may be modulated in opposing directions depending on how this precursor is processed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, CCB, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, 88015-420, Florianópolis, Brazil.
authors.forename: Elaine C
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Gavioli
authors.forename: Giles A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Rae
authors.forename: Girolamo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Calo'
authors.forename: Remo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Guerrini
authors.forename: Thereza C M
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: De Lima
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001007:Anxiety / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000523:psychology; D002417:Cattle; D007276:Injections, Intraventricular; D008297:Male; D018782:Maze Learning / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D051379:Mice; D018847:Opioid Peptides / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000502:physiology; D000097629:Nociceptin
chemical_list: D018847:Opioid Peptides; D000097629:Nociceptin; C111148:nocistatin