Spontaneous physical activity (SPA) describes activity outside of formal exercise and shows large interindividual variability. The hypothalamic orexin/hypocretin peptides are key regulators of SPA. Orexins drive SPA within multiple brain sites, including rostral lateral hypothalamus (LH) and nucleus accumbens shell (NAcSh). Rats with high basal SPA (high activity, HA) show higher orexin mRNA ex...

In this review we focus on the role of orexin in cardio-respiratory functions and its potential link to hypertension. (1) Orexin, cardiovascular function, and hypertension. In normal rats, central administration of orexin can induce significant increases in arterial blood pressure (ABP) and sympathetic nerve activity (SNA), which can be blocked by orexin receptor antagonists. In spontaneously h...

Orexin, mainly produced by orexin-expressing neurons in the lateral hypothalamus (LH), plays an important role in pain modulation. Moreover, it is shown that the nucleus accumbens (NAc) is one of the important areas involved in this modulation. Orexin-1 (OX1) and orexin-2 (OX2) receptors are densely distributed in the NAc. The study investigated the involvement of OX1 receptors in the NAc on an...

Orexin, mainly produced by orexin-expressing neurons in the lateral hypothalamus (LH), plays an important role in pain modulation. Moreover, it is shown that the nucleus accumbens (NAc) is one of the important areas involved in this modulation. Orexin-1 (OX1) and orexin-2 (OX2) receptors are densely distributed in the NAc. The study investigated the involvement of OX1 receptors in the NAc on an...

The orexin/hypocretin system is involved in several addiction-related behaviors. In the present experiments, we examined the involvement of orexin in heroin reinforcement and relapse by administering the orexin 1 receptor antagonist SB-334867 prior to heroin self-administration or prior to cue-induced or heroin-induced reinstatement of extinguished heroin seeking in male Sprague Dawley rats. SB...

OBJECTIVES Intracerebroventricular injection of orexin-A (hypocretin-1) antagonist has been shown to inhibit stress-induced analgesia. However the locations of central sites that may mediate these effects have not been totally demonstrated. This study was performed to investigate the role of rostral ventromedial medulla (RVM) orexin receptor 1 in stress-induced analgesia (SIA). MATERIALS AND ...

The orexin neurohormones control a variety of important physiological processes by signaling through two related G protein-coupled receptors, including appetite and feeding, wakefulness and energy homeostasis. Pharmacological manipulation of orexin signaling is an important goal. Here we describe the isolation of orexin receptor ligands from a library of microarray-displayed peptoids via a nove...

T wo of the most enigmatic and challenging problems in neuroscience are the search for the function of sleep and understanding the mechanism by which volatile chemicals can induce general anesthesia. Despite the apparent similarity of sleep and anesthesia to the neophyte, it is widely argued that these brain states are actually apples and oranges, sleep being readily reversible (thankfully), wh...

Orexin makes an important contribution to the regulation of cardiovascular function. When injected centrally under anesthesia, orexin increases blood pressure, heart rate and sympathetic nerve activity. This is consistent with the location of orexin neurons in the hypothalamus and the distribution of orexin terminals in the central autonomic network. Thus, the two orexin receptors, Ox1R and Ox2...

Orexin-A and Orexin-B (also known as hypocretin 1 and 2) are, respectively, 33and 28-amino acid residue peptides that activate a G-protein-coupled ‘orphan’ receptor, i.e. which has no known ligand.1 Immuno-cytochemical studies show that orexin-positive neurons are located in the lateral hypothalamic area and arcuate and perifornical nuclei.2 They are also found in various sites beyond the hypot...