Subbiah P. Sivam, Ph.D.

Position

• Professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology
• Course-Director, Pharmacology and Toxicology
• Full Member of the Graduate Faculty of Indiana University

Education

• University of Madras, India,1969 B.S. - Chemistry.
• Univesity of Madras, Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER), 1972 M.S. - Pharmacology.
• All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, India, 1980; Ph.D. Pharmacology.

Post Doc

• Research Associate, Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, Mississippi 1980-1983.
• Senior Staff Pharmacologist, NIEHS, NIH, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, 1983-1986.

Memberships

• Society for Neuroscience
• Chicago Chapter of Society of Neuroscience
• International Brain Research Organization (Hon)
• American Society for Pharmacology & Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET)
• Neuropharmacology Division (ASPET)
• Great Lakes Chapter of ASPET, Chicago
• Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB)
• American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Research Interests

Research Synopsis

1. Molecular, cellular and behavioral neuropharmacology/neurobiology.
   
   
   Neuropeptides and neurotransmitters.
   Regulation of neuropeptide gene expression.
   Signaling and transduction mechanisms.
   Neural development, degeneration, regeneration and plasticity.
   Parkinson's disease models; cell transplantation. 
   Neurological and neuropsychiatric diseases.
   Neurobiology of drug abuse.
2. Educational Research: Pharmacology teaching methods.

Research Description

My research focuses on the study of neuropeptides and neurotransmitters in neural development, degeneration, regeneration and plasticity as applicable to neurological and neuropsychiatric diseases. The striatonigral and raphae-striatal systems are used as model neural systems for these studies. Technically, the studies involve molecular, cellular and behavioral neuropharmacology. The studies pertain to neurotransmitter regulation of neuropeptide gene expression and biosynthesis. The neurotransmitter systems include dopamine, serotonin and gamma aminobutyric acid; the peptide systems include opioids (enkephalin and dynorphin) and tachykinins (substance P and neurokinin A).

Research Methods

Parkinson's disease models; Cell Transplantation.
Behavioral pharmacology measurements.
Stereotaxic microinjections.
Radioimmunoassays.
Immunohistochemistry.
HPLC.
Molecular biology techniques.
Western blot

Selected Research Publications

Sivam, S.P., Seth, S.D., Nayar, U. and Manchanda, S.C. (1980) Neurally mediated digitalis arrhythmias and the adrenoceptors. European Journal of Pharmacology 68: 107-115, 1980.

Sivam, S.P., Nabeshima, T. and Ho, I.K. (1981) Alterations of regional GABA receptors in morphine tolerant mice. Biochemical Pharmacology 30: 2187-2190.

Sivam, S.P. and Ho, I.K. (1983) GABAergic drugs, morphine and morphine tolerance: A study in relation to nociception and gastrointestinal transit. Neuropharmacology 22: 767-774.

Sivam, S.P., Norris, J.C., Lim, D.K., Hoskins, B. and Ho, I.K. (1983) Influence of acute and chronic cholinesterase inhibition with diisopropyl fluorophosphate in muscarinic, dopamine and GABA receptors of the rat striatum. Journal of Neurochemistry 40: 1414-1421.

Sivam, S.P. and Ho, I.K. (1984) Antinociceptive and gastrointestinal effects of opiates: An analysis of the involvement of mu and delta receptors of the central nervous system. Neuropharmacology 23: 105-108.

Sivam, S.P., Hoskins, B. and Ho, I.K. (1984) Acute toxicity of diisopropyl fluorophosphate, Tabun, Sarin and Soman in relation to cholinergic and GABAergic enzyme activities. Fundamental and Applied Toxicology. 4: 531-538.

Sivam, S.P. and Ho, I.K. (1985) Mini Review: GABA in morphine analgesia and tolerance. Life Sciences37: 199-208.

Sivam, S.P. and Hong, J.S. (1986) GABAergic regulation of enkephalin in rat striatum: Alterations in Met5-enkephalin level, precursor content and preproenkephalin mRNA abundance. Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics. 237: 326-331.

Sivam, S.P., Strunk, C., Smith, D. and Hong, J.S. (1986) Proenkephalin-A gene regulation in the striatum: Influence of lithium and haloperidol. Molecular Pharmacology. 30: 186-191.

Sivam, S.P., Hudson, P.M., Tilson, H.A. and Hong, J.S. (1987) Interaction between GABA and dopamine in the basal ganglia: Dopaminergic supersensitivity following chronic elevation of brain GABA levels. Brain Research 412: 29-35.

Sivam, S.P., Breese, G.R., Krause, J.E., Napier, T.C., Mueller, R.A. and Hong, J.S. (1987) Neonatal and adult 6-hydroxydopamine induced lesions of the rat nigrostriatal dopamine system differentially alter enkephalin and tachykinin gene expression. Journal of Neurochemistry. 49: 1623-1633.

Li, S.J., Sivam, S.P., McGinty, J.F., Huang, Y.S. and Hong, J.S. (1987) Dopaminergic regulation of tachykinin metabolism in the striatonigral pathway. Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics243: 792-798.

Sivam, S.P., Smith, D.R., Takeuchi, K. and Hong, J.S. (1987) Lithium and haloperidol differentially alter the dynorphin A (1-8) and enkephalin levels in the neuro intermediate lobe of rat pituitary. Neuropeptides10: 291-298.

Li, S.J., Sivam, S.P., McGinty, J.F., Douglass, J. and Hong, J.S. (1988) Regulation of the metabolism of striatal dynorphin by the dopaminergic system. Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics. 246: 403-408.

Sivam, S.P., Takeuchi, K., Li, S., Douglass, J., Civelli, O., Calavetta, L., Herbert, E., McGinty, J.F. and Hong, J.S. (1988) Lithium increases dynorphin A (1-8) and prodynorphin mRNA levels in the basal ganglia of rats. Molecular Brain Research 3: 155-164.

Sivam, S.P., Krause, J.E., Takeuchi, K., Li, S., McGinty, J.F. and Hong, J.S. (1989) Lithium increases rat striatal beta- and gamma-preprotachykinin messenger RNAs. Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics 248: 1297-1301.

Sivam, S.P. (1989) Cocaine selectively increases striatonigral dynorphin levels by a dopaminergic mechanism. Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics 250: 818-824.

Sivam, S.P. (1989) D1 dopamine receptor mediated depletion of substance P in the striatonigral pathway of rats subjected to neonatal dopaminergic denervation: implications for self-injurious behavior.Brain Research 536: 169-175.

Sivam, S.P. and Krause, J.E. (1990) Compensatory activation of substance P biosynthesis by L-DOPA in striatonigral neurons of neonatal dopaminergic denervated rats. Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics 254: 433-439.

Sivam, S.P. and Krause, J.E. (1990) the adaptation of enkephalin, tachykinin and monoamine neurons of the basal ganglia following neonatal dopaminergic denervation is dependent on the extent of dopamine depletion. Brain Research 536: 169-175.

Sivam, S.P., Krause, J.E., Breese, G.R. and Hong, J.S. (1991) Dopamine dependent adaptation of enkephalin and tachykinin neurons of rat basal ganglia during postnatal development. Journal of Neurochemistry 56: 1499-1508.

Sivam, S.P. (1991) Dopamine-dependent decrease in enkephalin and tachykinin levels in the basal ganglia of Parkinsonian brains: an analysis of postmortem tissue samples. Neuropeptides 18: 201-207.

Sivam, S.P. and Krause, J.E. (1992) Tachykinin systems in spinal cord and basal ganglia: Influence of neonatal capsaicin treatment or dopaminergic intervention on levels of peptides, substance P-encoding mRNA and substance P receptor mRNA. Journal of Neurochemistry 59: 2278-2284.

Sivam, S.P. (1993) Influence of monoamine oxidase inhibitors and striatonigral dynorphin system: a study with deprenyl and clorgyline. Neuropeptides 25: 35-45.

Sivam, S.P. (1995) Dopaminergic modulation of serotonin metabolism in rat striatum: a study with dopamine uptake inhibitor GBR-12909. Life Sciences 56: PL467-472.

Sivam, S.P. (1995) GBR-12909-induced self-injurious behavior in rats: role of dopamine. Brain Research690: 259-263.

Sivam, S.P. (1995) Serotonergic regulation of striatal dynorphin and substance P systems: study with serotonin uptake inhibitor, fluoxetine. Neuroscience Research Communications 17:209-215.

Sivam, S.P. (1996) Dopaminergic regulation of striatonigral tachykinin and dynorphin gene expression: a study with dopamine uptake inhibitor, GBR-12909. Molecular Brain Research 35: 197-210.

Sivam, S. P. (1996) Dopaminergic regulation of postnatal development of dynorphin neurons in rat striatum. Neuropeptides 30: 103-107.

Sivam, S. P. (1996) Minireview: Dopamine, serotonin and tachykinin in self-injurious behavior. Life Sciences 58: 2367-2375.

Sivam, S.P. and Cox, J. (2006) Postnatal administration of D1 dopamine agonist reverses neonatal dopaminergic lesion-induced changes in striatal enkephalin and substance P systems. Brain Research1073-1074: 159-163.

Sivam. S.P., Pugazhenthi, S., Pugazhenthi, A, and Brown H. (2008) L-DOPA-induced activation of striatal p38MAPK and CREB in neonatal dopaminergic denervated rat: Relevance to self-injurious behavior. Journal of Neuroscience Research 86: 339-349.

Teaching Related Publications:

Sivam, S.P., Iatridis, P.G. and Vaughn, S. Integration of pharmacology into a problem based learning curriculum for medical students. Medical Education 29, 289-296, 1995.

Iatridis, P.G., Anderson, W.M., Gupta, D., Hudson, N.W., Hoftiezer, V., Bankston, P., Vanden Berge, J.C., Echtenkamp, S.F., Kennendy, B.G., Sivam, S.P., Marfurt, C.F., Dziarski, R., Baldwin, W. and Vaughn, S.D. Macroanalysis of integration of the basic medical sciences in a Problem-Based Learning curriculum. In: Advances in Medical Education, Eds. Scherpbier et al., 509-512, 1997.