OBJECTIVE To examine in vivo in a rodent model the potential role of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) within the ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH) in glucose sensing during hypoglycemia. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Using gene silencing technology to selectively downregulate AMPK in the VMH, a key hypothalamic glucose-sensing region, we demonstrate a key role for AMPK in the detection of hypo...

Introduction: A specific role of dopamine D2 receptor signaling of midbrain and hypothalamic dopaminergic systems has not been yet identified in energy homeostasis. Here, we investigated effects of intra-ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH) administration of the D2 receptor agonist (quinpirole) and antagonist (sulpiride) on plasma leptin and glucose levels in fasted rats. Methods: A guide cannul...

The ventromedial hypothalamic nucleus (VMH) regulates a variety of homeostatic processes including female sexual behavior and reproduction. In the current study, we assessed the roles of steroidogenic factor 1 (SF-1) on reproductive function in the VMH using central nervous system-specific SF-1 knockout (SF-1 KO(nCre;F/-)) mice. Here we show that SF-1 KO(nCre;F/-) females exhibited marked impai...

To determine whether changes in food intake produced by leptin involve targeting the hormone to distinct central nervous system regions, guide cannulas were positioned stereotaxically into three brain regions--the ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH) (bilaterally, n = 6), the dorsal raphe nucleus (n = 3), and the lateral ventricle (n = 3)--of nonobese male rats (400-500 g). Daily food intake and bod...

Amylin enhances arcuate (ARC) and ventromedial (VMN) hypothalamic nuclei leptin signaling and synergistically reduces food intake and body weight in selectively bred diet-induced obese (DIO) rats. Since DIO (125)I-amylin dorsomedial nucleus-dorsomedial VMN binding was reduced, we postulated that this contributed to DIO ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH) leptin resistance, and that impairing VMH (A...

Hepatocytes have a great replicative capacity and are capable of repopulating the liver. Previous studies have suggested that the autonomic nervous system regulates liver regeneration and apoptosis. Moreover, the central nervous system modulates them through the autonomic nervous system. The lateral hypothalamus (LH) area and the ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH) nucleus have been studied for the...

Obesity, diabetes, and other metabolic complications are growing concerns for public health and could lead to detrimental life-threatening conditions. Neurons whose activities are required for energy and glucose homeostasis are found in a number of hypothalamic nuclei. In the early twentieth century, the ventral medial nucleus of the hypothalamus (VMH) was the first site reported to play a prom...

Recent studies show that brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) decreases feeding and body weight after peripheral and ventricular administration. BDNF mRNA and protein, and its receptor TrkB, are widely distributed in the hypothalamus and other brain regions. However, there are few reports on specific brain sites of actions for BDNF. We evaluated the effect of BDNF, given into the ventromedi...

Recent studies have indicated a neural regulation of hormonal and metabolic responses to exercise. Studies on the ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH) suggest that the VMH might be involved in neural control of exercise metabolism. We therefore studied 25 rats with or without Marcain-anesthetized VMH (Marcain and control rats, respectively) at rest or during treadmill running (26 m/min). The rats ha...

OBJECTIVE Impaired glucose counterregulation during hypoglycemia is well documented in patients with type 1 diabetes; however, the molecular mechanisms underlying this defect remain uncertain. We reported that the inhibitory neurotransmitter γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), in a crucial glucose-sensing region within the brain, the ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH), plays an important role in modulatin...