The ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH) is an important neural locus for the control of female-typical sexual behavior in vertebrates, and exogenous estrogen stimulates a strong increase in progesterone receptor (PR) in the VMH of adult females. Estrogen also regulates its own receptor (ER), though the direction of the response varies from species to species. In rodents and whiptail lizards, males ...

Anorexigenic melanocortins decrease food intake by activating MC3/MC4 receptors (MC3/4R); the prevailing view is that the orexigenic neuropeptide agouti-related peptide (AgRP) exerts the opposite action by acting as an antagonist at MC3/MC4 receptors. A total of 370 hypothalamic ventromedial nucleus (VMH) glutamatergic neurons was studied using whole-cell recording in hypothalamic slices from a...

Pancreatic glucokinase (GK)-like immunoreactivities are located in ependymocytes and serotonergic neurons of the rat brain. The present study investigated in vitro changes in intracellular calcium concentrations ([Ca(2+)](i)) in response to low (2 mm) or high (20 mm) extracellular glucose concentrations in isolated cells from the wall of the central canal (CC), raphe obscurus nucleus (ROb), ven...

25 26 The objective of this study was to determine the potential role of astrocyte-derived ketone bodies 27 in regulating the early changes in caloric intake of diet induced-obese (DIO) vs. diet resistant 28 (DR) rats fed a 31.5% fat high-energy (HE) diet. After 3 d on chow or HE diet, DR and DIO rats, 29 were assessed for their ventromedial hypothalamic (VMH) ketone bodies levels and neuronal ...

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and its receptor, TrkB, are critical components of the neural circuitry controlling appetite and body weight. Diminished BDNF signaling in mice results in severe hyperphagia and obesity. In humans, BDNF haploinsufficiency and the functional Bdnf Val66Met polymorphism have been linked to elevated food intake and body weight. The mechanisms underlying this...

The effects of lesions in the ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH) on male and female sexual behavior in female cats were examined. Following preoperative testing for receptivity, proceptivity, and male mating behavior, 27 female cats received either lesions in the anterior or posterior portion of the VMH or sham lesions. Neither of the VMH lesion placements reduced proceptivity and receptivity scor...

Estrogen (E) and progesterone (P) orchestrate many cellular responses involved in female reproductive physiology, including reproductive behaviors. E- and P-binding neurons important for lordosis behavior have been located within the ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH), and several hormone-responsive genes have been observed there as well. In attempts to identify additional E- and P-responsive gene...

Recurrent episodes of hypoglycemia impair sympathoadrenal counterregulatory responses (CRRs) to a subsequent episode of hypoglycemia. For individuals with type 1 diabetes, this markedly increases (by 25-fold) the risk of severe hypoglycemia and is a major limitation to optimal insulin therapy. The mechanisms through which this maladaptive response occurs remain unknown. The corticotrophin-relea...

The problem of the role of various parts of the hypothalamus in the regulation of food intake in animals is still not clear in spite of numerous studies concerning this subject. It is generally accepted that lesions in the ventromedial nucleus of the hypothalamus (VMH) produce hyper-phagia leading to obesity However, the extent and localization of lesions in particular papers are far from being...

Protein-tyrosine phosphatase 1B (PTP1B) regulates food intake (FI) and energy expenditure (EE) by inhibiting leptin signaling in the hypothalamus. In peripheral tissues, PTP1B regulates insulin signaling, but its effects on CNS insulin action are largely unknown. Mice harboring a whole-brain deletion of the gene encoding PTP1B (Ptpn1) are lean, leptin-hypersensitive, and resistant to high fat d...