gamma aminobutyrate (gaba) is a non-protein amino acid that is thought to play an important role in the modulation of the central response to stress. mechanisms by which gaba may facilitate these responses to stress are metabolic and/or mechanical disruptions. environmental stresses increase gaba accumulation through cytosolic acidification, induce an acidic ph-dependent activation of glutamate...

introduction: gonadotropin inhibitory hormone (gnih) is believed to be an inhibitor of gonadotropin releasing hormone (gnrh) secretion. the role of gnih in lactational inhibition of gonadotropin secretion is not well known therefore, the aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of lactation on expression of gnih in these nuclei of lactating and non-lactating rats. methods: ten postpa...

We introduce a novel method that provides quantitative lipidomics results from Raman maps in the paraventricular nucleus of thalamus (PVT) region post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) rat brains.

The present experiments were undertaken to examine whether oxytocin cells in the supraoptic nucleus receive synaptic inputs from the contralateral supraoptic nucleus or paraventricular nucleus. Using urethane-anesthetized lactating rats, extracellular action potentials were recorded from single oxytocin or vasopressin cells in the supraoptic nucleus. Electrical stimulation was applied to the co...

Activation of central 5-hydroxytryptamine 1A receptors powerfully inhibits stress-evoked cardiovascular responses mediated by the dorsomedial hypothalamus, as well as responses evoked by direct activation of neurons within the dorsomedial hypothalamus. The hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus also has a crucial role in cardiovascular regulation, and is believed to regulate heart rate and renal ...

The hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus is a key integrative area in the brain involved in influencing sympathetic nerve activity and in the release of hormones or releasing factors that contribute to regulating body fluid homeostasis and endocrine function. The endocrine and hormonal regulatory function of the paraventricular nucleus is well studied, but the regulation of sympathetic nerve ac...

Pregnancy increases sympathetic nerve activity (SNA), but the mechanisms are unknown. Here, we investigated the contributions of the hypothalamic paraventricular and arcuate nuclei in α-chloralose-anesthetized pregnant and nonpregnant rats. Baseline arterial pressure (AP) was lower, and heart rate (HR), lumbar sympathetic activity, and splanchnic SNA were higher in pregnant rats compared with n...

Ethanol intake stimulates expression of galanin in several hypothalamic sites, including the paraventricular nucleus. Because injection of galanin in the paraventricular nucleus induces eating, we hypothesized that galanin might also affect ethanol intake. Rats were given ad libitum access to 4% ethanol for 4 weeks and assigned to one of two groups according to levels of ethanol consumption: hi...

Brain areas expressing c-fos messenger RNA were mapped by quantitative in situ hybridization after 1-2 h of intoxication with 10 μg/kg Tx2-6, a toxin obtained from the venom of the spider Phoneutria nigriventer. Relative to saline-treated controls, brains from toxin-treated animals showed pronounced c-fos activation in many brain areas, including the supraoptic nucleus, the paraventricular nucl...

NPY is a potent orexigenic signal and represents a key component of targets through which leptin exerts a regulatory restraint on body adiposity. Part of the orexigenic effects of NPY are mediated by hypothalamic NPY-Y(1) receptors. Here we studied the effect of fasting, leptin, and glucose administration on Y(1) receptor gene expression using a transgenic mouse model carrying a mouse Y(1) rece...