An inhibitory effect of cytokine-induced neutrophil chemoattractant on corticotropin-releasing factor-induced increase in locomotor activity

Expression of cocaine- and amphetamine-regulated transcript (CART) peptides at climbing fibre-Purkinje cell synapses in the rat vestibular cerebellum

Cocaine- and amphetamine-regulated transcript (CART) peptides have a wide CNS distribution and appear to play an important role in a number of physiological processes including reward and reinforcement, feeding, locomotion, stress responses and perception of pain. We have further investigated the expression of CART peptides in rat cerebellum, using multiple fluorescent antibodies. Dense fibre-like immunofluorescence was observed in the molecular layer of the vestibular cerebellum (paraflocculus and lobes IX and X of the vermis). There was little or no immunofluorescence in any other region of the cerebellum (vermis or hemispheres). The immunofluorescence in lobes IX and X of the vermis showed a parasagittal banding pattern, with one medial and two lateral bands. We have provided several lines of evidence that CART peptides are expressed by climbing fibres: (1) There is CART peptide immunofluorescence in the inferior olivary complex, the source of climbing fibres. (2) No cerebellar cell bodies were labelled by the CART peptide antibody. (3) The developmental profile of CART peptide expression was consistent with climbing fibre development and finally (4) triple antibody labelling revealed co-expression of CART peptides with VGluT2 (the glutamate transporter at climbing fibre synapses) at boutons innervating calbindin D-28K labelled proximal Purkinje cell dendrites. Analysis of VGluT2 and CART peptide labelling in more detail showed that not all climbing fibres in the vestibular cerebellum expressed CART peptides but those fibres which did express CART peptides were immunofluorescent at all Purkinje cell synapses.

Effects of the traditional Japanese medicine Unkei-to on the corticotropin-releasing factor-induced increase in locomotor activity

The effect of Unkei-to, a traditional Japanese herbal medicine and strong in vitro releaser of cytokine-induced neutrophil chemoattractant (CINC), on the increase in locomotor activity induced by intracerebroventricular (icv) injection of corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) in male rats in a familiar environment was investigated. Oral administration of Unkei-to (100 mg/kg) for 1 week significantly attenuated the CRF-induced increase in locomotor activity. Unkei-to also reduced the CRF-induced accumulation of hypothalamic CINC, which has a functional antagonistic action on the response to CRF; the reduction may reflect an increased release of CINC. These results suggest that Unkei-to has an alleviative effect on the action induced by brain CRF and the mechanism of this effect may partly involve CINC.

Efficacy of the herbal medicine Unkei-to as an adjunctive treatment to hormone replacement therapy for postmenopausal women with depressive symptoms

OBJECTIVE

Although hormone replacement therapy (HRT) improves menopausal depressive symptoms, women unresponsive to HRT need an antidepressant drug as an effective adjunctive therapy. The aim of this study was to assess whether the herbal medicine Unkei-to has an impact on HRT-resistant menopausal depressive symptoms as an effective adjunctive therapy combined with HRT.

METHODS

Twenty-four HRT-resistant menopausal depressive women were randomly assigned to group 1 (n = 12) or group 2 (n = 12). Subjects in group 1 were accessioned into 6 months of open treatment with Unkei-to as an adjunctive therapy and changed to Toki-shakuyaku-san for 6 months following a 1-month washout period. Group 2 started with Toki-shakuyaku-san for 6 months and then changed to Unkei-to for 6 months following a 1-month washout period.

RESULTS

Three months' treatment with Unkei-to as an adjunctive therapy significantly improved Zung's Self-Rating Depression Scale (ZSDS) scores, State-Anxiety (STAI-1) scores, and Trait-Anxiety (STAI-2) scores noted before treatment, and this effect continued at 6 months. Treatment with Unkei-to was also significantly effective in reduction of ZSDS scores, STAI-1 scores, and STAI-2 scores at 3 months compared with Toki-shakuyaku-san treatment, and this effect continued at 6 months.

CONCLUSIONS

Unkei-to is another option as an adjunctive herbal therapy in HRT-resistant menopausal depressive women.

The postnatal developmental expression pattern of urocortin in the rat olivocerebellar system

Urocortin belongs to the family of corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF)-like peptides, which play an important role in sensorimotor coordination. CRF induces locomotor activity, and urocortin has an inhibitory effect. Here, we document the regional and subcellular localization of urocortin in the developing rat cerebellum to compare it with CRF. During the first postnatal week, urocortin immunoreactivity (UCN-ir), within the white matter and cerebellar cortex, was strongest in vermal lobules I, II, IX, and X, closely followed by lobules IV, V, and VIII; lobules VI and VII showed the weakest labeling. Cortical immunoreactivity was in the form of puncta that encircled Purkinje cell somata. By postnatal day (PD) 12, UCN-ir had increased appreciably in all lobules. In Purkinje cells, labeling was spread throughout their somata and proximal dendrites. By PD 15, labeling in lobules I-IV appeared to wane, yet still prevailed in the central and posterior lobules. This anterior-to-posterior gradient persisted through to adulthood. The study shows that urocortin and CRF have similar regional distribution profiles during development, suggesting synergistic roles within the vestibulocerebellum. The onset of the adult distributional pattern of urocortin at the stage when rats are capable of fluent walking patterns further strengthens the correlation between CRF-like peptides and postural control. An important difference between urocortin and CRF is the localization of urocortin, and not CRF, within Purkinje cells, implying that urocortin probably has an additional role in modulating the signals emanating from the cerebellar cortex to the deep cerebellar nuclei.