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Background: The quality of general movements (GMs) is a widely used criterion to assess neurological dysfunction in young infants. It is unknown, however, whether the birth process influences the motor repertoire of healthy full term infants during the first week after birth.Aims: To assess the quality of GMs and to determine the motor optimality score (OS) in healthy full term infants during the first week after birth and to evaluate the influence of the mode of delivery on GM quality.Study design: Thirty-three healthy full term infants born either vaginally or after caesarean section (CS) under spinal anaesthesia were video recorded in the first week after birth in order to assess GM quality and to determine OS with Prechtl's method.Results: Abnormal GMs were observed mainly on the early recordings: 86% on the day of birth (day 0), 94% on day 1, and 68% on day 2. On days 5 to 7 (day 5-7) all GMs were normal (P Conclusions: Healthy full term infants often showed abnormal GM quality and lower OSs during the first week after birth, irrespective of the mode of delivery. GM quality normalised during subsequent days and was normal on day 5-7. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

The central noradrenergic system is widely distributed throughout the brain and is closely related to spontaneous motility and level of consciousness. The study presented here evaluated the morphological as well as neurochemical effects of diffuse brain injury on the central noradrenergic system in rat. Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were subjected to impact-acceleration brain injury produced with a weight-drop device. Morphological changes in locus coeruleus (LC) neurons were examined by using immunohistochemistry for dopamine-beta-hydroxylase, and norepinephrine (NE) turnover in the cerebral cortex was measured by high performance liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection. The size of LC neurons increased by 11% 24 h after injury but had decreased by 27% seven days after injury. Axons of noradrenergic neurons were swollen 24 h and 48 h after injury but the swelling had dwindled in seven days. NE turnover was significantly reduced seven days after injury and remained at a low level until eight weeks after injury. These results suggest that focal impairment of axonal transport due to diffuse brain injury causes cellular changes in LC and that the neurochemical effect of injury on the central noradrenargic system lasts over an extended period of time. Chronic suppression of NE turnover may explain the sustained behavioral and psychological abnormalities observed in a clinical situation.

The crude latex of Calotropis procera was evaluated for anthelmintic activity using adult earthworms. Both fresh as well as aqueous extracts of dried latex exhibited a dose-dependent inhibition of spontaneous motility (paralysis) and evoked responses to pin-prick. With higher doses (100mg/ml of aqueous extract of dry latex and 100% fresh latex) the effects were comparable with that of 3% piperazine. However, there was no final recovery in the case of worms treated with latex in contrast to piperazine with which the paralysis was reversible and the worms recovered completely within six hours. The results show that latex possesses wormicidal activity and thus, may be useful as an anthelmintic.

Effects of temperature and variations of the extracellular Ca 2+ content on the activity of rabbit ileum were investigated. The spasmolytic efficacy of papaverine was also studied. A rise of temperature from 25 to 42°C significantly increased the spontaneous pendular movements, whereas the contraction amplitude was not significantly altered. Reduction of the extracellular Ca 2+ to one half did not affect spontaneous motility or the tension developed at a bath temperature of 25°C. At 42°C, however, lowering of the extracellular Ca 2+ decreased the frequency of motility but increased the contraction amplitude. At the high temperature the pD 2 value of papaverine was higher than at the low temperature. This effect was partly abolished after exposure to iodoacetic acid (IAA). Ca 2+ reduction had the same effect as a temperature rise: at a low extracellular Ca 2+ content the pD 2 of papaverine increased. It is concluded, therefore, that high temperatures stimulate the energy-requiring Ca 2+ pump mechanism thus leading to a lowered concentration of free intracellular Ca 2+ . As a consequence, the concentration of papaverine required to produce relaxation is less at the higher temperature than at the lower temperature.

Summary The effect of cycloheximide (2 μg/ml), puromycin (2 μg/ml) and actinomycin D (1 μg/ml), as well as the relation between the influence of cycloheximide and prostaglandin (PG) production on the spontaneous motility of 20 days-ovariectomized rat uterus, were studied. Cycloheximide evoked a more stable motility during the experimental period (180 min) when compared with controls. Neither puromycin nor actinomycin D could madify the spontaneous activity. In the presence of cycloheximide, the rat uterus released more PGE-like material than the untreated one, and no differences were found in the generation of PGF-like material. Indomethacin, acetylsalicylic acid and eicosa-5,8,11, 14- tetraynoic acid could partially block the cycloheximide-induced constancy of motility of uterine strips. Cyproheptadine and atropine had no effect at all. It is suggested that cycloheximide prevents the spontaneoys decay of the contractile activity at least in part by influencing PGE-like material production.

The spontaneous motility and chemotaxis of PMNs have been investigated in 25 healthy subjects aged 69–88 years (79.04 ± 4.6) and compared with the values obtained in 25 subjects aged 17–35 years (25.6 ± 5.9). For spontaneous motility, the values were 32 ± 9 in the young subjects, in comparison with 24 ± 11 in the elderly (p < 0.05). For chemotaxis the values were 34 ± 14 in the young subjects and 25 ± 10 in the elderly (p < 0.02). A group of 8 elderly subjects received 2 g ascorbic acid daily for 1 month. Measurements of spontaneous motility and chemotaxis were conducted, and the results were compared with those obtained prior to the treatment. Neither parameter was significantly modified. Another group of 8 elderly subjects received 50 mg of levamisole daily for 3 days. This drug caused a significant increase in spontaneous motility (p < 0.0001) and chemotaxis (p < 0.05). In our experience, the elderly exhibit a decrease in spontaneous motility and chemotaxis of PMNs in comparison with those values obtained in young people. Although levamisole increased the values of both parameters, ascorbic acid did not.

In the present investigation the effects of free fatty acids (FFA) and L -carnitine were investigated on the rat isolated uterine horn. The cumulative addition of FFA and L&

Spontaneous uterine motility and reactivity to intravenous oxytocin were recorded in eight ovari-ectomised, oestrogen-primed goats before and after oral meclofenamic acid treatment. Spontaneous motility was completely abolished within 50 to 100 min of meclofenamate administration. However, although uterine reactivity to oxytocin was significantly reduced, the sensitivity was not altered. It is suggested that, in the goat, oxytocin has two effects on the uterus: it increases myometrial activity and also stimulates prostaglandin synthesis.

Piperidine is a biogenic alicyclic amine possessing potent pharmacological activity. Interest has recently been focussed on its possible role as an endogenous hypnogenic substance. Using a mass fragmentographic technique with deuterium-labelled piperidine as an internal standard, the time relations of the change in brain levels of piperidine and the anesthetic activity of urethane were determined in mice. The brain piperidine level increased prior to the loss of the righting reflex and the elevated level declined prior to the reappearance of the reflex. The change in brain piperidine level correlated with neither that in spontaneous motility nor that in body temperature. The findings favor the idea that piperidine might at least partly regulate the level of consciousness.

The effects of dopamine administered intraventricularly in various doses (5–100 μg) on the spontaneous motility of rats were tested. The effects of dopamine were dosedependent: doses of 5–10 μg dopamine caused a small but statistically significant (P< 0.05) increase in spontaneous motor activity 20–30 min after intra ventricular administration. Greater doses of dopamine (50–100 μg) produced initially (for 20 min) a decrease in the rat's motility with stuporous signs and assymetric body posture. During the next 20–60 min after injections of greater doses of dopamine there was an increase in the number of motions observed. Biochemical determinations showed that after the administration of 10μg dopamine to whole rat brain tissue no alterations in the levels of dopamine and noradrenaline occurred. After injection of 50 μg dopamine, a statistically significant rise in the dopamine level was found. Sixty minutes after injection of this dose the level of noradrenaline was also increased.

400 mg/kg alpha-methyldopa i.p. inhibits the convulsion facilitating effect of 2,5 mg/kg reserpine i.p. in mice and rats. The effect of reserpine potentiating narcosis and decreasing spontaneous motility was not influenced by alpha-methyldopa. In animals pretreated with alpha-methyldopa reserpine does not decrease the norepine-phrine content of the brain, but the serotonin level is as low as in animals given reserpine alone.

β-Phenethylamine possesses marked amphetamine-like effects which are demonstrable in animals pre-treated with a monoamine oxidase inhibitor. Like amphetamine, β-phenethylamine induces an increase of coordinated spontaneous motility in mice, anorexia in rats and dogs, hyperthermia in mice and rats, and exhibits a difference in lethality between isolated and aggregated mice. These effects are seen with similar doses of β-phenethylamine or amphetamine. But, unlike amphetamine, β-phenethylamine does not increase coordinated spontaneous motility in rats.

Isolated duodenal segments, obtained from rats exposed one to three days previously to 1,000 R whole body irradiation, had increased average amplitudes of contraction compared to non-irradiated controls. Gut obtained from rats exposed to 500 R and 1,000 R showed an apparently normal response to acetylcholine but a diminished contractile response to serotonin. The period of regrowth of the mucosal epithelium four to six days after 500 R corresponded to a partial or complete recovery in the response to serotonin. These results suggest that an altered intestinal serotonin response possibly associated with mucosal damage must be considered in the aetiology of gut motility changes during the acute radiation syndrome.

These studies were performed to investigate the influence of diethyldithiocarbamate on the toxicity of amphetamine in aggregated mice. In the same mice changes in body temperature and spontaneous motility were determined. In the other experiments brain catecholamine concentrations were assayed. Diethyldithiocarbamate potentiated the toxicity of amphetamine in some experimental conditions and slightly antagonized it in others. These effects are discussed in relation to behavioral and biochemical changes observed in mice.

The effect of Psilocybin on the behavior of the baboon Papiopapio has been studied. Animal watchfulness, as estimated from the E.E.G., is enhanced within the first five minutes after injection and then is not further modified. Psilocybin induces a decrease of spontaneous motility. Conversely, the frequency of eye movements is considerably increased. This pattern might be explained by alterations of visual perception.

Publisher Summary This chapter elaborates the catecholamine metabolism and amphetamine effects on sensitive and insensitive mice. d -Amphetamine neither increases the spontaneous motility nor does it induce the stereotyped behavior, and grouping effect in C3H mice as do the doses active in NMRI mice. d -Amphetamine does not significantly increase the body temperature of C3H mice, while it elicits a dose-dependent hyperthermia in NMRI mice. On the contrary, at low doses, it decreases the body temperature in C3H mice. d -Amphetamine decreases noradrenaline in the brain-stem, and increases homovanillic acid in the striatum, but it only slightly affects noradrenaline, and does not modify HVA concentrations of C3H mice. The thermic response to amphetamine in normal untreated mice is probably a polygenically-inherited trait. In an attempt to understand the genetically determined different reactivity to amphetamine, the basal brain concentrations of the biogenic amines and of their metabolites were compared in the two strains.

An in vivo technique for monitoring uterine contractility has been developed and used to assess the effects of naproxen on both spontaneous motility and that due to exogenous PGF2 alpha in the hamster and the rat. Naproxen has been shown to suppress uterine motility in both situations, in both species, whether administered by parenteral or oral routes. The hamster was shown to be approximately 10 X less sensitive to naproxen than is the rat (625 mg/kg vs 62.5 mg/kg) but conversely was 100 X more sensitive than rat to uterine contractive effects of PGF 2 alpha (10 ng vs 1000 ng).

SummaryA number of anti-inflammatory agents were tested for their effect on the chemotaxis responsiveness and on the spontaneous motility of neutrophils obtained from rabbit and rat peritoneal exudates and human blood. The majority of these agents, both steroidal and nonsteroidal, inhibited the chemotactic responsiveness of neutrophils obtained from all three sources to a bacterial chemotactic factor. The effective steroidal anti-inflammatory agents tested inhibited both chemotaxis and spontaneous motility, whereas the nonsteroidal agents, with the exception of phenylbutazone, inhibited only chemotaxis and were without effect on motility.We thank Mr. Henry Showell in the laboratory of Dr. Elmer Becker at the University of Connecticut Health Center for providing us with the butanol extract of E. coli culture filtrates. We also appreciate the work of Miss Kathy Walmsley and Mrs. Barbara Cerne in typing this manuscript.

From the leaves of COLUBRINA ASIATICA B RONGEN (Rhamnaceae) two saponins have been isolated and structurally elucidated, mainly by (13)C-NMR-spectroscopic methods, as jujubogenin-3-O-[2-O-acetyl-3-O-(3-O-beta-D-xylopyranosyl-4-O-acetyl-beta-D-glucopyranosyl)-alpha-L-arabinoside] (colubrinoside) and jujubogenin-3-O- [2-O-acetyl -3-O- (2-O- beta -D- xylopyranosyl-beta-D-glucopyranosyl)-alpha-L-arabinoside] (colubrin) respectively. Both saponins inhibit the spontaneous motility of mice, even at low doses (1 mg/ kg), they show an antagonistic effect on amphetamine and exert a synergistic activity on chlordiazepoxide.

During screening for sedative-analgesic effects of many imidazole-type compounds, detomidine proved to be potent sedative-analgesic agent for horses and cattle.

Histamine (5 X 10(-6) to 10(-3) M) depressed the spontaneous motility of the isolated rat uterus in a dose-dependent manner. Under these conditions uterine cyclic AMP was raised up to 92%. Both effects, uterine relaxation and cyclic AMP accumulation after 2 min could be inhibited dose dependently by the H2-antihistaminic compound metiamide (1.7 X 10(-6) M to 1.7 X 10(-4) M). By contrast, the H1-antagonist pheniramin (4.4 X 10(-5) M) was ineffective. It was concluded that the histamine-induced inhibition of rat uterine motility is mediated by cyclic AMP which is formed in response to stimulation of H2-histaminergic receptors.

Monkeys receiving acetylmethadol thrice weekly were more active on dosing days, and less active on between-dose days, than while drug-free. Aggressive social behaviours increased significantly on drug-dosing days, while quiescent resting behaviors were much more common on between-dose days. Tolerance to these effects was modest, and the effects were not blocked by naltrexone. These subtle but potentially disruptive behavioral effects appear to parallel many of the actions of acetylmethadol in man.

1. 1. The capacity of human uterine muscle for spontaneous shortening was found to decrease with age, and the activity of myometrial samples from old, postmenopausal women was characterized by relatively rapid, feeble contraction waves. 2. 2. Myometrial samples excised from uteri with secretory endometria exhibited a slower rate of spontaneous motility than did those from uteri in the proliferative phase. Muscle shortening, however, was found to be unaffected by the ovarian cycle. 3. 3. Repeated pregnancies and labors, the presence of leiomyomas else-where in the uterus, sedatives, analgesics and anesthetic agents administered at the time of operation, as well as race, were found to be of no statistical significance as factors influencing the spontaneous motility of myometrial strips excised from the nongravid human uterus. 4. 4. Muscle samples removed from gravid uteri (from 2 months' gestation until term) exhibited no statistical differences in regard to motility, when compared with tissues from the nongravid viscus. 5. 5. In a limited number of tests, myometrial tissues from patients with primary uterine inertia exhibited a significantly reduced muscle shortening with increased frequency of contraction when compared with “normal” tissues from both nongravid and gravid uteri.

Publisher Summary This chapter elaborates the catecholamine metabolism and amphetamine effects on sensitive and insensitive mice. d-Amphetamine neither increases the spontaneous motility nor does it induce the stereotyped behavior, and grouping effect in C3H mice as do the doses active in NMRI mice. d-Amphetamine does not significantly increase the body temperature of C3H mice, while it elicits a dose-dependent hyperthermia in NMRI mice. On the contrary, at low doses, it decreases the body temperature in C3H mice. d-Amphetamine decreases noradrenaline in the brain-stem, and increases homovanillic acid in the striatum, but it only slightly affects noradrenaline, and does not modify HVA concentrations of C3H mice. The thermic response to amphetamine in normal untreated mice is probably a polygenically-inherited trait. In an attempt to understand the genetically determined different reactivity to amphetamine, the basal brain concentrations of the biogenic amines and of their metabolites were compared in the two strains.