Systemic immune challenge induces preproenkephalin gene transcription in distinct autonomic structures of the rat brain

Behavioral Feeding Circuit: Dietary Fat-Induced Effects of Inflammatory Mediators in the Hypothalamus

Excessive dietary fat intake has extensive impacts on several physiological systems and can lead to metabolic and nonmetabolic disease. In animal models of ingestion, exposure to a high fat diet during pregnancy predisposes offspring to increase intake of dietary fat and causes increase in weight gain that can lead to obesity, and without intervention, these physiological and behavioral consequences can persist for several generations. The hypothalamus is a region of the brain that responds to physiological hunger and fullness and contains orexigenic neuropeptide systems that have long been associated with dietary fat intake. The past fifteen years of research show that prenatal exposure to a high fat diet increases neurogenesis of these neuropeptide systems in offspring brain and are correlated to behavioral changes that induce a pro-consummatory and obesogenic phenotype. Current research has uncovered several potential molecular mechanisms by which excessive dietary fat alters the hypothalamus and involve dietary fatty acids, the immune system, gut microbiota, and transcriptional and epigenetic changes. This review will examine the current knowledge of dietary fat-associated changes in the hypothalamus and the potential pathways involved in modifying the development of orexigenic peptide neurons that lead to changes in ingestive behavior, with a special emphasis on inflammation by chemokines.

Estrogenic influences in pain processing

Gonadal hormones not only play a pivotal role in reproductive behavior and sexual differentiation, they also contribute to thermoregulation, feeding, memory, neuronal survival, and the perception of somatosensory stimuli. Numerous studies on both animals and human subjects have also demonstrated the potential effects of gonadal hormones, such as estrogens, on pain transmission. These effects most likely involve multiple neuroanatomical circuits as well as diverse neurochemical systems and they therefore need to be evaluated specifically to determine the localization and intrinsic characteristics of the neurons engaged. The aim of this review is to summarize the morphological as well as biochemical evidence in support for gonadal hormone modulation of nociceptive processing, with particular focus on estrogens and spinal cord mechanisms.

Allopregnanolone and suppressed hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis stress responses in late pregnancy in the rat

In rats, late pregnancy is associated with suppressed hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis responses to a variety of stressful stimuli. The result is reduced corticosterone secretion following stress, which is considered to give some protection to the fetuses from adverse glucocorticoid programming and limits the catabolic effect of corticosterone, hence minimizing maternal energy expenditure. We have used a model of immune challenge in which systemic administration of the cytokine, interleukin-1β (IL-1β), allows study of the mechanisms underlying HPA axis hyporesponsiveness in late pregnancy. Suppressed responsiveness of parvocellular paraventricular nucleus (pPVN) corticotropin-releasing hormone neurons, and hence the HPA axis, following IL-1β in late pregnancy is evidently explained by presynaptic inhibition of noradrenaline release in the pPVN, owing to increased endogenous opioid peptide enkephalin production in brainstem nucleus tractus solitarii neurons. Allopregnanolone, a neurosteroid metabolite of progesterone, signals the pregnancy status of the animal to the brain and stimulates opioid production in the brainstem. In this review, we discuss the supporting evidence for these mechanisms.

Neurosteroids and GABA-A Receptor Function

Neurosteroids represent a class of endogenous steroids that are synthesized in the brain, the adrenals, and the gonads and have potent and selective effects on the GABAA-receptor. 3α-hydroxy A-ring reduced metabolites of progesterone, deoxycorticosterone, and testosterone are positive modulators of GABA(A)-receptor in a non-genomic manner. Allopregnanolone (3α-OH-5α-pregnan-20-one), 5α-androstane-3α, 17α-diol (Adiol), and 3α5α-tetrahydrodeoxycorticosterone (3α5α-THDOC) enhance the GABA-mediated Cl(-) currents acting on a site (or sites) distinct from the GABA, benzodiazepine, barbiturate, and picrotoxin binding sites. 3α5α-P and 3α5α-THDOC potentiate synaptic GABA(A)-receptor function and activate δ-subunit containing extrasynaptic receptors that mediate tonic currents. On the contrary, 3β-OH pregnane steroids and pregnenolone sulfate (PS) are GABA(A)-receptor antagonists and induce activation-dependent inhibition of the receptor. The activities of neurosteroid are dependent on brain regions and types of neurons. In addition to the slow genomic action of the parent steroids, the non-genomic, and rapid actions of neurosteroids play a significant role in the GABA(A)-receptor function and shift in mood and memory function. This review describes molecular mechanisms underlying neurosteroid action on the GABA(A)-receptor, mood changes, and cognitive functions.

Inducible prostaglandin E2 synthesis interacts in a temporally supplementary sequence with constitutive prostaglandin-synthesizing enzymes in creating the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis response to immune challenge

Inflammation-induced activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis has been suggested to depend on prostaglandins, but the prostaglandin species and the prostaglandin-synthesizing enzymes that are responsible have not been fully identified. Here, we examined HPA axis activation in mice after genetic deletion or pharmacological inhibition of prostaglandin E(2)-synthesizing enzymes, including cyclooxygenase-1 (Cox-1), Cox-2, and microsomal prostaglandin E synthase-1 (mPGES-1). After immune challenge by intraperitoneal injection of lipopolysaccharide, the rapid stress hormone responses were intact after Cox-2 inhibition and unaffected by mPGES-1 deletion, whereas unselective Cox inhibition blunted these responses, implying the involvement of Cox-1. However, mPGES-1-deficient mice showed attenuated transcriptional activation of corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) that was followed by attenuated plasma concentrations of adrenocorticotropic hormone and corticosterone. Cox-2 inhibition similarly blunted the delayed corticosterone response and further attenuated corticosterone release in mPGES-1 knock-out mice. The expression of the c-fos gene, an index of synaptic activation, was maintained in the paraventricular hypothalamic nucleus and its brainstem afferents both after unselective and Cox-2 selective inhibition as well as in Cox-1, Cox-2, and mPGES-1 knock-out mice. These findings point to a mechanism by which (1) neuronal afferent signaling via brainstem autonomic relay nuclei and downstream Cox-1-dependent prostaglandin release and (2) humoral, CRH transcription-dependent signaling through induced Cox-2 and mPGES-1 elicited PGE(2) synthesis, shown to occur in brain vascular cells, play distinct, but temporally supplementary roles for the stress hormone response to inflammation.

Systemic immune challenge activates an intrinsically regulated local inflammatory circuit in the adrenal gland

There is evidence from in vitro studies that inflammatory messengers influence the release of stress hormone via direct effects on the adrenal gland; however, the mechanisms underlying these effects in the intact organism are unknown. Here we demonstrate that systemic inflammation in rats elicited by iv injection of lipopolysaccharide results in dynamic changes in the adrenal immune cell population, implying a rapid depletion of dendritic cells in the inner cortical layer and the recruitment of immature cells to the outer layers. These changes are accompanied by an induced production of IL-1beta and IL-1 receptor type 1 as well as cyclooxygenase-2 and microsomal prostaglandin E synthase-1 in these cells, implying local cytokine-mediated prostaglandin E(2) production in the adrenals, which also displayed prostaglandin E(2) receptors of subtypes 1 and 3 in the cortex and medulla. The IL-1beta expression was also induced by systemically administrated IL-1beta and was in both cases attenuated by IL-1 receptor antagonist, consistent with an autocrine signaling loop. IL-1beta similarly induced expression of cyclooxygenase-2, but the cyclooxygenase-2 expression was, in contrast, further enhanced by IL-1 receptor antagonist. These data demonstrate a mechanism by which systemic inflammatory agents activate an intrinsically regulated local signaling circuit that may influence the adrenals' response to immune stress and may help explain the dissociation between plasma levels of ACTH and corticosteroids during chronic immune perturbations.

Lipopolysaccharide induces preproenkephalin transcription in hypophysiotropic neurons of the rat paraventricular hypothalamic nucleus suggesting a neuroendocrine role for enkephalins during immune stress

Opioids have impact on stress responses and possess immune modulatory functions. We have previously shown that immune stress elevates the levels of preproenkephalin transcript in a variety of autonomic structures in the rat brain, including the paraventricular hypothalamic nucleus. By using in situ hybridization with an intronic probe recognizing the preproenkephalin heteronuclear RNA combined with retrograde tract tracing, we examined the efferent target of the enkephalinergic neurons in the paraventricular hypothalamic nucleus that display induced transcriptional activity during immune challenge. Rats were first given i.p. injections of the tracer substance Fluoro-Gold, which following this route of administration is taken up only by nerve terminals residing outside the blood-brain barrier, and were then given an i.v. injection of lipopolysaccharide. Neuronal cell bodies retrogradely labeled with Fluoro-Gold were detected by immunohistochemistry, and-using a dual-labeling approach-the same cells were then examined for their expression of preproenkephalin heteronuclear RNA. We found that over 90% of the neurons that expressed preproenkephalin heteronuclear RNA also contained Fluoro-Gold. In addition, approximately 40% of the neurons expressing preproenkephalin heteronuclear RNA co-expressed mRNA for corticotropin-releasing hormone, the main adrenocorticotropic hormone secretagogue. These data show that the paraventricular hypothalamic neurons that display induced preproenkephalin transcription following immune challenge are almost exclusively hypophysiotropic neurons, indicating a role for enkephalin in the hypothalamic control of hormone release during infectious and inflammatory conditions.

Expression of melanocortin-4 receptor by rat parabrachial neurons responsive to immune and aversive stimuli

The pontine parabrachial nucleus is a major relay area for visceral and other interoceptive information, and has been implicated in mechanisms underlying anorexia and food aversion during disease. Thus, physiological studies have shown that peripheral immune stimuli, as well as the administration of aversive substances such as lithium chloride, evoke a prominent Fos-expression in the lateral parabrachial nucleus and behavioral experiments have demonstrated that this structure is critical for the acquisition of conditioned taste aversion. The present study examined in rats the relationship between parabrachial neurons activated by systemic administration of bacterial cell-wall lipopolysaccharide or lithium chloride and the melanocortin system, a major regulator of feeding and energy homeostasis that also has been implicated in aversive behavior. Dual-labeling in situ hybridization showed melanocortin-4 receptor expression on neurons in the external lateral parabrachial subnucleus that displayed lipopolysaccharide- or lithium chloride-induced expression of c-fos mRNA. Melanocortin-4 receptor mRNA was also co-expressed with mRNA for calcitonin gene-related peptide in this subnucleus. Taken together with previous observations showing that calcitonin gene-related peptide expressing neurons in the external lateral parabrachial subnucleus are activated by peripheral immune challenge, that lipopolysaccharide-activated external lateral parabrachial subnucleus neurons project to the amygdala, and that the amygdala-projecting neurons in the external lateral parabrachial subnucleus are calcitonin gene-related peptide-positive, the present findings suggest the presence of a melanocortin-regulated calcitonin gene-related peptide-positive pathway from the external lateral parabrachial subnucleus to the amygdala that relays information of importance to forebrain responses to certain aspects of sickness behavior. These observations may thus help explain how melanocortins can reduce feeding and influence conditioned taste aversion during inflammation and other disease conditions.

Neuroactive steroids attenuate oxytocin stress responses in late pregnancy

In late pregnant rats neuroendocrine stress responses, expressed as increased oxytocin secretion and activation of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis, are attenuated. These adaptations preserve the oxytocin store for parturition and prevent pre-term birth, and protect the fetuses from adverse programming by exposure to excess glucocorticoid. Mechanisms of adaptations for oxytocin neurones are reviewed, using challenge with systemic interleukin-1beta, simulating activation of immune signaling by infection, as a stressor of special relevance in pregnancy. In virgin rats, systemic interleukin-1beta stimulates the firing of oxytocin neurones, and hence oxytocin secretion, but interleukin-1beta has no effects in late pregnant rats. This lack of response is reversed by naloxone treatment just before interleukin-1beta administration, indicating endogenous opioid suppression of oxytocin responses in late pregnancy. This opioid presynaptically inhibits noradrenergic terminals impinging on oxytocin neurones. Finasteride pretreatment, inhibiting progesterone conversion to allopregnanolone, a positive GABA(A) receptor allosteric modifier, also restores an oxytocin response to interleukin-1beta. This finasteride effect is reversed by allopregnanolone treatment. In virgin rats allopregnanolone attenuates the oxytocin response to interleukin-1beta, which is exaggerated by naloxone. The effects of naloxone and finasteride in late pregnant rats in restoring an oxytocin response to interleukin-1beta are not additive. Accordingly, allopregnanolone may both enhance GABA inhibition of oxytocin neurone responses to interleukin-1beta, and induce opioid suppression of noradrenaline release onto oxytocin neurones.

Histological and cytological study of the bed nuclei of the stria terminalis in adult rat. II. Oval nucleus: Extrinsic inputs, cell types, neuropil, and neuronal modules

The oval nucleus (Ov) of the bed nuclei of the stria terminalis was studied in adult rats. The Ov is composed of 11 neuron types distributed into a shell and a core domain. The stria terminalis, internal capsule, ventral amygdaloid pathway, and medial forebrain bundle are the main sources of afferents to the neuropil of the Ov. The nucleus shell contains abundant intrinsic neurons possibly connected among themselves and with the core by centripetal axon collaterals. Series of intrinsic neurons in the shell, linked with both short-axon and projecting neurons in the core, suggest a centripetal control of projecting neurons. In situ hybidization for vesicular glutamate transporter (VGlu) and glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) show numerous GAD-synthesizing neurons and an absence of VGlu-synthesizing neurons. In the electron microscope, the neuropil of the Ov contains axospinous, axoshaft, axosomatic, mixed (i.e., chemical-electrical), and axoaxonic synapses, in order of frequency. Synaptic boutons in apposition with the initial segment, represent an additional axoaxonic interaction. Further neural synchronization of the Ov occurs via gap junctions between somata, soma-dendrite, and possibly by apposition between axon terminals. The putative inputs from the major tracts of the forebrain coupled with the cytological organization of the Ov make it one of the most complex structures of the mammalian brain.

Glucocorticoid rhythms control the rhythm of expression of the clock protein, Period2, in oval nucleus of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis and central nucleus of the amygdala in rats

We investigated the involvement of the adrenal glucocorticoid, corticosterone, in the control of the rhythmic expression of the circadian clock protein, Period2, in forebrain nuclei known to be sensitive to glucocorticoids, stressors and drugs of abuse, the oval nucleus of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis and the central nucleus of the amygdala. We found previously that the daily rhythm of Period2 in these nuclei is uniquely dependent on the integrity of the adrenal glands (Amir S, Lamont EW, Robinson B, Stewart J (2004) A circadian rhythm in the expression of PERIOD2 protein reveals a novel SCN-controlled oscillator in the oval nucleus of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis. J Neurosci 24:781-790; Lamont EW, Robinson B, Stewart J, Amir S (2005) The central and basolateral nuclei of the amygdala exhibit opposite diurnal rhythms of expression of the clock protein Period2. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 102:4180-4184). We now show that, in rats, in the absence of the adrenals, corticosterone replacement via the drinking water, which is associated with daily fluctuations in corticosterone levels, restores the rhythm of Period2 in the oval nucleus of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis and central nucleus of the amygdala. Corticosterone replacement via constant-release pellets has no effect. These results underscore the importance of circadian glucocorticoid signaling in Period2 rhythms in the oval nucleus of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis and central nucleus of the amygdala and suggest a novel mechanism whereby stressors, drugs of abuse, and other abnormal states that affect the patterns of circulating glucocorticoids can alter the functional output of these nuclei.

A circadian rhythm in the expression of PERIOD2 protein reveals a novel SCN-controlled oscillator in the oval nucleus of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis

Circadian rhythms in mammals are regulated not only globally by the master clock in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), but also locally by widely distributed populations of clock cells in the brain and periphery that control tissue-specific rhythmic outputs. Here we show that the oval nucleus of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST-OV) exhibits a robust circadian rhythm in expression of the Period2 (PER2) clock protein. PER2 expression is rhythmic in the BNST-OV in rats housed under a light/dark cycle or in constant darkness, in blind rats, and in mice, and is in perfect synchrony with the PER2 rhythm of the SCN. Constant light or bilateral SCN lesions abolish the rhythm of PER2 in the BNST-OV. Large abrupt shifts in the light schedule transiently uncouple the BNST-OV rhythm from that of the SCN. Re-entrainment of the PER2 rhythm is faster in the SCN than in the BNST-OV, and it is faster after a delay than an advance shift. Bilateral adrenalectomy blunts the PER2 rhythm in the BNST-OV. Thus, the BNST-OV contains circadian clock cells that normally oscillate in synchrony with the SCN, but these cells appear to require both input from the SCN and circulating glucocorticoids to maintain their circadian oscillation. Taken together with what is known about the functional organization of the connections of the BNST-OV with systems of the brain involved in stress and motivational processes, these findings place BNST-OV oscillators in a position to influence specific physiological and behavioral rhythms downstream from the SCN clock.

EP3 and EP4 receptor mRNA expression in peptidergic cell groups of the rat parabrachial nucleus

This study examines the distribution of prostaglandin E2 receptors of subtype EP3 and EP4 among brain stem parabrachial neurons that were characterized with respect to their neuropeptide expression. By using a dual-labeling in situ hybridization method, we show that preprodynorphin mRNA expressing neurons in the dorsal and central lateral subnuclei express EP3 receptor mRNA. Such receptors are also expressed in preproenkephalin, calcitonin gene related peptide and preprotachykinin mRNA positive neurons in the external lateral subnucleus, whereas preprodynorphin mRNA expressing neurons in this subnucleus are EP receptor negative. In addition, EP3 receptor expression is seen among some enkephalinergic neurons in the Kölliker-Fuse nucleus. Neurons in the central part of the cholecystokininergic population in the regions of the superior lateral subnucleus express EP4 receptor mRNA, whereas those located more peripherally express EP3 receptors. Taken together with previous findings showing that discrete peptidergic cell groups mediate nociceptive and/or visceral afferent information to distinct brain stem and forebrain regions, the present results suggest that the processing of this information in the parabrachial nucleus is influenced by prostaglandin E2. Recent work has shown that prostaglandin E2 is released into the brain following peripheral immune challenge; hence, the parabrachial nucleus may be a region where humoral signaling of peripheral inflammatory events may interact with neuronal signaling elicited by the same peripheral processes.

Central nervous determination of food storage—a daily switch from conservation to expenditure: implications for the metabolic syndrome

Here, we present a neuroendocrine concept to review the circularly interacting energy homeostasis system between brain and body. Body-brain interaction is circular because the brain immediately integrates an input to an output, and because part of this response may be that the brain modulates the sensitivity of this perception. First, we describe how the brain senses the body through neurons and blood-borne factors. Direct neuronal connections report the state of various organs. In addition, humoral factors are perceived by the blood-brain barrier and circumventricular organs. We describe how circulating energy carriers are sensed and what signals reach the brain during food intake, exercise and an immune response. We describe that the brain regulates the homeostatic process at two fundamentally different levels during the active and inactive states. The unbalanced output of the brain in the metabolic syndrome is discussed in relation with such circadian rhythms and with regional activity of the autonomic nervous system. In line with the above, we suggest a new approach for the diagnosis and therapy of the metabolic syndrome.