Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) specifically enhances and maintains the expression of neuropeptide Y (NPY) and somatostatin (SOM) in cultured neocortical neurons (Nawa et al., 1993). In this article, we examined its effects in vivo on neuropeptide expression in various brain regions by injecting BDNF into the cerebroventricle of newborn rats. Repeated administration (2x) of BDNF increa...

Neuropeptide Y (NPY) is a key regulator of energy homeostasis and is implicated in the development of obesity and type 2 diabetes. Whereas it is known that hypothalamic administration of exogenous NPY peptides leads to increased body weight gain, hyperphagia, and many hormonal and metabolic changes characteristic of an obesity syndrome, the Y receptor(s) mediating these effects is disputed and ...

About one-third of women with epilepsy have a catamenial seizure pattern, in which seizures fluctuate with the menstrual cycle. Catamenial seizures occur more frequently when the ratio of circulating estradiol to progesterone is high, suggesting that estradiol is proconvulsant. We used adult female rats to test how estradiol-induced suppression of GABAergic inhibition in the hippocampus affects...

The present study was undertaken to determine whether neuropeptide Y (NPY) induces proliferation of rat aortic endothelial cells (RAECs). Since NPY increased the permeability of RAEC monolayers to large molecules via the NPY Y(3) receptor, RAEC proliferation has been evaluated in terms of NPY-receptor subtypes and also intracellular mechanisms. RAECs were incubated with gases containing 20, 15,...

Polyethylenimine (PEI) has been proposed as a non-viral vector, and has been successfully used to transfer reporter genes into the central nervous system (CNS), kidneys, and lungs of adult mice. Neuropeptide Y (NPY) is a peptide expressed in the hypothalamus and is important in the regulation of body weight. Using PEI combined with stereotactic microinjection, we have successfully transferred c...

Substance P(SP)-, neurokinin A (NKA)-, calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP)- and neuropeptide Y (NPY)-like immunoreactivity (-LI) was studied in rats' cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), plasma and perfusates (PF) from the temporomandibular joints (TMJs) at 2, 6 and 24 h following 0.01 ml injection of 2% carrageenan (CAR) into the right TMJ. SP-, NKA-, CGRP- and NPY-LI were significantly increased in ...

The contribution of neuropeptide Y (NPY), deriving from adrenal medulla, to the adrenosympathetic tone is unknown. We found that in response to NPY, primary cultures of mouse adrenal chromaffin cells secreted catecholamine, and that this effect was abolished in cultures from NPY Y(1) receptor knockout mice (Y(1)-/-). Compared with wild-type mice (Y(1)+/+), the adrenal content and constitutive r...

Background: Anxious temperament (AT) is identifiable early in life and predicts the later development of anxiety disorders and depression. Neuropeptide Y (NPY) is a putative endogenous anxiolytic neurotransmitter that adaptively regulates responses to stress and might confer resilience to stress-related psychopathology. With a well-validated nonhuman primate model of AT, we examined expression ...