December 2009

Morphine is an exogenous ligand for MrgX2, a G protein-coupled receptor for cortistatin

MrgX2 is reported to be expressed in a specific subset of dorsal root ganglion sensory neurons and it is activated by the endogenous peptides, cortistatin and proadrenomedullin N-terminal peptide. Here, we show that morphine but not opioid peptides stimulated a dose-dependent increase of the intracellular calcium ion level in MrgX2-expressing cells. Naloxone, an opioid receptor antagonist, did not influence these...

Author(s): Natsuyo Akuzawa, Hideru Obinata, Takashi Izumi and Shigeki Takeda

December 2009

Effect of inorganic mercury on biochemical parameters in Wister rat

The present study has been carried out to investigate the effect of inorganic mercury (mercuric chloride - HgCl2) exposure on biochemical parameters in adult male rats. 48 rats whose average body weight was about 290 g were included in the experiment. HgCl2, dissolved in distilled water, was administered per os at a dose of 0.25 mg/kg of body weight daily during 15, 30, 45 or 60 days. Rats receiving distilled water were...

Author(s): Sameha Merzoug, Mohamed Lamine Toumi, Abdelkader Oumeddour, Nadia Boukhris, Bruno Baudin, Abdelkrim Tahraoui and Abdelmadjid Bairi  

December 2009

Numbers and phenology of the Yellow - legged Gull Larus michahellisin the wetland of Réghaïa

The Yellow - legged Gull Larus michaellis is a common visitor to the Marsh of Reghaia (Algeria) and breeds off the coast in small numbers on the Agueli islet, a rocky outcrop with scarce vegetation. It is especially frequent in the marsh out of the breeding season, particularly in December (120 individuals) and January (234 individuals) (data from 2004). Gulls breed on the islet: 31 nests were recorded in...

Author(s): Samia Ouarab, Jean-Francois Voisin, Michel Thevenot and Salahedine Doumandji