Stress is a reaction to unwanted events disturbing body homeostasis which influences its pathways and target areas. Stress affects the brain through the lateral hypothalamic area (LHA) orexinergic system that mediates the effect of corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) through CRH receptor type 1 (CRHr1). Therefore, this study explores the outcome of stress exposure on anxiety development and t...

The neuropeptides orexins/hypocretins are essential for normal wakefulness and energy balance, and disruption of their function causes narcolepsy and obesity. Although much is known of the role of orexins in sleep/wake behavior, it remains unclear how they stimulate feeding and metabolism. One of the main targets of orexinergic neurons is the arcuate nucleus (ARC) of the hypothalamus, which pla...

Orexinergic system may play an important role in the regulation of anesthesia-arousal. However, which region or which pathway mediated the effect of orexins was still unclear. In current study, we investigated whether activation of orexin signals in basal forebrain (BF) may alter electroencephalographic activity, induction and emergence time to sevoflurane anesthesia in rats. Either orexin-A or...

Orexins/hypocretins are neuropeptides formed by proteolytic cleavage of a precursor peptide, which are produced by neurons found in the lateral hypothalamus. The G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) for these ligands, the OX₁ and OX₂ orexin receptors, are more widely expressed throughout the central nervous system. The orexin/hypocretin system has been implicated in many pathways, and its dysreg...

BACKGROUND As orexinergic (OXergic) neurons have been reported to mediate emotional changes, benzodiazepines might interact with OXergic neurons. METHODS We examined the interactions between OXergic neurons and benzodiazepine receptors in orexin-A (100 nM) and K+ (25 mM)-evoked norepinephrine release from rat cerebrocortical slices. RESULTS Midazolam, diazepam, and flunitrazepam concentrati...