Ascorbic acid concentration in the lateral hypothalamus is related to plasma osmolality

The impact of genetic removal of GFAP and/or vimentin on glutamine levels and transport of glucose and ascorbate in astrocytes

The importance of the intermediate filament (IF) proteins glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and vimentin for astrocyte function was studied by investigating astrocytes prepared from GFAP-/- and/or vimentin-/- mice. The rate of glucose uptake through facilitative hexose transporters was not affected by depletion of GFAP or vimentin. Similarly, the absence of these IF proteins did not affect ascorbate uptake, under control or cyclic AMP-stimulated conditions, or ascorbate efflux through volume-sensitive organic anion channels. However, compared with wild-type astrocytes, glutamine concentrations were increased up to 200% in GFAP-/- astrocytes and up to 150% in GFAP+/- astrocytes and this increase was not dependent on the presence of vimentin. GFAP-/- astrocytes in culture still contain IFs (made of vimentin and nestin), whereas GFAP-/- vim-/- cultured astrocytes lack IFs. Thus, glutamine levels appear to correlate inversely with GFAP, rather than depend on the presence of IFs per se. Furthermore, the effect of GFAP is dose-dependent since the glutamine concentration in GFAP+/- astrocytes falls between those in wild-type and GFAP-/- astrocytes.

Extracellular catechol and indole turnover in the nucleus of the solitary tract of spontaneously hypertensive and Wistar-Kyoto normotensive rats in response to drug-induced changes in arterial blood pressure

Drug-induced alterations in arterial blood pressure are reflected in the extracellular fluid neurotransmitter levels of the nucleus of the solitary tract (NTS). Urethane-anesthetized spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs) and Wistar-Kyoto normotensive (WKY) rats were used in this study. The extracellular neurochemical profile of the NTS was quantified using the in vivo microdialysis technique. In SHR, phenylephrine-induced hypertension produced no significant changes in the extracellular norepinephrine (NE) and dihydroxyphenylacetic acid concentrations, whereas a significant increase in the serotonin metabolite 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) concentration was observed. Wistar normotensive rats, in response to phenylephrine-induced hypertension, showed a significant increase in extracellular NE and 5-HIAA concentrations. Hypotension produced by the intravenous infusion of nitroprusside failed to show significant changes in the extracellular neurotransmitters in both SHR and WKY rats. However, there was a significant increase in 5-HIAA concentration in SHRs during the rebound hypertension, which followed the nitroprusside-infused hypotension. No such change was observed in the case of the WKY rats. These results suggest the possible involvement of the serotonergic mechanisms of NTS in the regulation of normal arterial blood pressure in these two rat strains.