Identification of pressor regions activated by central cholinergic stimulation in rat brain

Central acetylcholinesterase inhibition improves hemodynamic counterregulation to severe blood loss in alcohol-intoxicated rats

Acute alcohol intoxication results in impaired hemodynamic counterregulation to blood loss and is associated with an attenuated hemorrhage-induced release of catecholamines and AVP. We speculated that restoration of the neuroendocrine response to hemorrhage would improve mean arterial blood pressure (MABP) recovery during acute alcohol intoxication. Previously, we demonstrated that intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) choline, a precursor of acetylcholine, transiently increases sympathetic nervous system (SNS) outflow but is not capable of improving neuroendocrine and hemodynamic compensation to hemorrhage in alcohol-treated rats. We hypothesized that prolongation of the observed effect via i.c.v. neostigmine, an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor, would enhance SNS outflow, restore the neuroendocrine response, and in turn improve hemodynamic responses to hemorrhage during acute alcohol intoxication. I.c.v. neostigmine (1 microg) increased MABP, catecholamines, and AVP within 5 min and reversed hypotension due to 40% hemorrhage and intragastric alcohol (30% wt/vol, 2.5 g/kg) administration in chronically catheterized male Sprague-Dawley rats (225-250 g body wt). Acute alcohol intoxication before 50% hemorrhage decreased basal MABP, accentuated hypotension midhemorrhage, suppressed the hemorrhage-induced release of norepinephrine and AVP, and prevented restoration of MABP to basal levels after fluid resuscitation with lactated Ringer solution. I.c.v. neostigmine (0.5 microg) produced a sustained increase in MABP beginning at 30 min of hemorrhage that persisted throughout fluid resuscitation in control and alcohol-treated animals. I.c.v. neostigmine enhanced epinephrine responses and restored the hemorrhage-induced release of norepinephrine and AVP in alcohol-treated rats. These results demonstrate that inhibition of acetylcholinesterase in the central nervous system enhances SNS outflow, restores the neuroendocrine response to severe blood loss, and thereby improves hemodynamic counterregulation during acute alcohol intoxication. This study provides evidence for a central (and not peripheral) role of alcohol in impairing hemodynamic stability during hemorrhagic shock.

Central cholinergic modulation of blood pressure short-term variability

The role of neurally born acetylcholine in the central modulation of cardiovascular short-term variability was assessed using a pharmacological probe physostigmine, a cholinesterase inhibitor that can act centrally also. Experiments were performed in instrumented conscious rats. Equidistant sampling at 20 Hz of systolic arterial pressure (SAP), diastolic arterial pressure (DAP) and heart rate (HR) allowed direct spectral analysis. Spectra were analysed in the whole, very-low frequency (VLF), low-frequency (LF) and high-frequency (HF) domains. Physostigmine, but not neostigmine, increased SAP, LF SAP and HF SAP variability while neostigmine, but not physostigmine, decreased HR without affecting HR variability. Atropine methyl nitrate prevented neostigmine-induced bradycardia and potentiated the effects of physostigmine on DAP, LF DAP and HF DAP variability. Atropine sulphate, hexamethonium, phentolamine and metoprolol inhibited physostigmine-induced increase of SAP and LF SAP. Pre-treatment of rats by quinapril prevented physostigmine-induced increase of SAP, but not of LF SAP, while the V(1a) antagonist prevented the increase of HF SAP. The results suggest that central cholinergic neurons facilitate but do not create LF SAP and HF SAP variability. The effect of physostigmine on LF SAP seems to be mediated via central muscarinic sites and the peripheral sympathetic system, while non-muscarinic central sites and vasopressin pathways subserve the increase of HF SAP.

Activation of the parabrachio-amygdaloid pathway by immune challenge or spinal nociceptive input: a quantitative study in the rat using Fos immunohistochemistry and retrograde tract tracing

Peripheral nociceptive stimulation results in activation of neurons in the pontine parabrachial nucleus (PB) of rats. Electrophysiological studies have suggested that noxiously activated PB neurons project to the amygdala, constituting a potential pathway for emotional aspects of pain. In the present study we examined this hypothesis by combining retrograde tract tracing with Fos immunohistochemistry. Cholera toxin subunit B was injected into the amygdala of rats. After a minimum of 48 hours the rats were given a subcutaneous injection of 100 microl of 5% formalin into one hindpaw and killed 60-90 minutes later. A dense aggregation of retrogradely labeled neurons was seen in the external lateral PB. Fos-expressing neurons were present preferentially in the central, dorsal, and superior lateral subnuclei as well as in the lateral crescent area, as described previously. There was little overlap between the retrogradely labeled and Fos-expressing populations and double-labeled neurons were rare. In contrast, systemic immune challenge by intravenous injection of bacterial wall lipopolysaccharide resulted in a Fos expression that overlapped the retrograde labeling in the external lateral PB, and many double-labeled neurons were seen. While these data provide direct functional anatomical evidence that nociceptive information from the hindlimb is relayed to the amygdala via the parabrachial nucleus, the number of parabrachio-amygdaloid neurons involved is small. Considering the widespread activation of parabrachio-amygdaloid neurons by a variety of visceral and humoral stimuli, the parabrachio-amygdaloid pathway thus appears to be more involved in the mediation of information related to viscerally and humorally elicited activity than in transmission of spinal nociceptive inputs.

Evidence for the presence of nicotinic receptors on rat subfornical organ neurons

The sensitivity of subfornical organ (SFO) neurons in rat slice preparations to nicotine was studied using whole-cell patch-clamp recordings and immunohistochemistry. In the current-clamp mode, nicotine at 10 microM depolarized the membrane and increased the firing rate. In the voltage-clamp mode, nicotine elicited inward currents in a dose-dependent manner. The net current-voltage relationships of the nicotine-induced currents displayed inward rectification above -40 mV. The relatively alpha4beta2-selective nicotinic acetylcholine (ACh) receptor antagonist, dihydro-beta-erythroidine, reduced the peak amplitudes of the nicotine-induced inward currents. Immunohistochemical experiments with alpha4 antibody showed the existence of immunopositive cells in the subfornical organ. These results suggest that neurons in the subfornical organ are excited via alpha4beta2 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors.

The hypothalamus and hypertension

Most forms of hypertension are associated with a wide variety of functional changes in the hypothalamus. Alterations in the following substances are discussed: catecholamines, acetylcholine, angiotensin II, natriuretic peptides, vasopressin, nitric oxide, serotonin, GABA, ouabain, neuropeptide Y, opioids, bradykinin, thyrotropin-releasing factor, vasoactive intestinal polypeptide, tachykinins, histamine, and corticotropin-releasing factor. Functional changes in these substances occur throughout the hypothalamus but are particularly prominent rostrally; most lead to an increase in sympathetic nervous activity which is responsible for the rise in arterial pressure. A few appear to be depressor compensatory changes. The majority of the hypothalamic changes begin as the pressure rises and are particularly prominent in the young rat; subsequently they tend to fluctuate and overall to diminish with age. It is proposed that, with the possible exception of the Dahl salt-sensitive rat, the hypothalamic changes associated with hypertension are caused by renal and intrathoracic cardiopulmonary afferent stimulation. Renal afferent stimulation occurs as a result of renal ischemia and trauma as in the reduced renal mass rat. It is suggested that afferents from the chest arise, at least in part, from the observed increase in left auricular pressure which, it is submitted, is due to the associated documented impaired ability to excrete sodium. It is proposed, therefore, that the hypothalamic changes in hypertension are a link in an integrated compensatory natriuretic response to the kidney's impaired ability to excrete sodium.