Co-distribution of Fos- and mu opioid receptor immunoreactivity within the rat septopreoptic area and hypothalamus during acute glucose deprivation: effects of the mu receptor antagonist CTOP

Imbalanced insulin action in chronic over nutrition: Clinical harm, molecular mechanisms, and a way forward

The growing worldwide prevalence of overnutrition and underexertion threatens the gains that we have made against atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and other maladies. Chronic overnutrition causes the atherometabolic syndrome, which is a cluster of seemingly unrelated health problems characterized by increased abdominal girth and body-mass index, high fasting and postprandial concentrations of cholesterol- and triglyceride-rich apoB-lipoproteins (C-TRLs), low plasma HDL levels, impaired regulation of plasma glucose concentrations, hypertension, and a significant risk of developing overt type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). In addition, individuals with this syndrome exhibit fatty liver, hypercoagulability, sympathetic overactivity, a gradually rising set-point for body adiposity, a substantially increased risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, and--crucially--hyperinsulinemia. Many lines of evidence indicate that each component of the atherometabolic syndrome arises, or is worsened by, pathway-selective insulin resistance and responsiveness (SEIRR). Individuals with SEIRR require compensatory hyperinsulinemia to control plasma glucose levels. The result is overdrive of those pathways that remain insulin-responsive, particularly ERK activation and hepatic de-novo lipogenesis (DNL), while carbohydrate regulation deteriorates. The effects are easily summarized: if hyperinsulinemia does something bad in a tissue or organ, that effect remains responsive in the atherometabolic syndrome and T2DM; and if hyperinsulinemia might do something good, that effect becomes resistant. It is a deadly imbalance in insulin action. From the standpoint of human health, it is the worst possible combination of effects. In this review, we discuss the origins of the atherometabolic syndrome in our historically unprecedented environment that only recently has become full of poorly satiating calories and incessant enticements to sit. Data are examined that indicate the magnitude of daily caloric imbalance that causes obesity. We also cover key aspects of healthy, balanced insulin action in liver, endothelium, brain, and elsewhere. Recent insights into the molecular basis and pathophysiologic harm from SEIRR in these organs are discussed. Importantly, a newly discovered oxide transport chain functions as the master regulator of the balance amongst different limbs of the insulin signaling cascade. This oxide transport chain--abbreviated 'NSAPP' after its five major proteins--fails to function properly during chronic overnutrition, resulting in this harmful pattern of SEIRR. We also review the origins of widespread, chronic overnutrition. Despite its apparent complexity, one factor stands out. A sophisticated junk food industry, aided by subsidies from willing governments, has devoted years of careful effort to promote overeating through the creation of a new class of food and drink that is low- or no-cost to the consumer, convenient, savory, calorically dense, yet weakly satiating. It is past time for the rest of us to overcome these foes of good health and solve this man-made epidemic.

Molecules affecting hypothalamic control of core body temperature in response to calorie intake

Core body temperature (CBT) and calorie intake are main components of energy homeostasis and two important regulators of health, longevity, and aging. In homeotherms, CBT can be influenced by calorie intake as food deprivation or calorie restriction (CR) lowers CBT whereas feeding has hyperthermic effects. The finding that in mice CBT prolonged lifespan independently of CR, suggested that the mechanisms modulating CBT may represent important regulators of aging. Here we summarize the current knowledge on the signaling molecules and their receptors that participate in the regulation of CBT responses to calorie intake. These include hypothalamic neuropeptides regulating feeding but also energy expenditure via modulation of thermogenesis. We also report studies indicating that nutrient signals can contribute to regulation of CBT by direct action on hypothalamic preoptic warm-sensitive neurons that in turn regulate adaptive thermogenesis and hence CBT. Finally, we show the role played by two orphans G protein-coupled receptor: GPR50 and GPR83, that were recently demonstrated to regulate temperature-dependent energy expenditure.

Review of the neuroanatomic landscape implicated in glucose sensing and regulation of nutrient signaling: immunophenotypic localization of diabetes gene Tcf7l2 in the developing murine brain

Genetic variants in the transcription factor 7-like 2(Tcf7l2) gene have been found to confer a significant risk of type 2 diabetes and attenuated insulin secretion. Based on its genomic wide association Tcf7l2 is considered the single most important predictor of diabetes to date. Previous studies of Tcf7l2 mRNA localization in the adult brain suggest a putative role of Tcf7l2 in the CNS regulation of energy homeostasis. The present study further characterizes the immunophenotypic distribution of peptide expression in the brains of Tcf7l2 progeny during developmental time periods between E12.5 and P1. Tcf7l2(-/-) is lethal beyond P1. Results show that while negligible TCF7L2 expression is found in the developing brains of Tcf7l2(-/-)mice, TCF7L2 protein is relatively widespread and robustly expressed in the brain by E18.5 and exhibits specific expression within neuronal populations and regions of the brain in Tcf7l2(+/-) and Tcf7l2(+/+) progeny. Strong immunophenotypic labeling was found in the diencephalic structure of the thalamus that suggests a role of Tcf7l2 in the development and maintenance of thalamic activity. Strongly expressed TCF7L2 was localized in select hypothalamic and preoptic nuclei indicative of Tcf7l2 function within neurons controlling energy balance. Definitive neuronal staining for TCF7L2 within nuclei of the brain stem and circumventricular organs extends TCF7L2 localization within autonomic neurons and its potential integration with autonomic function. In addition robust TCF7L2 expression was found in the tectal and tegmental structures of the superior and inferior colliculi as well as transient expression in neuroepithelium of the cerebral and hippocampal cortices of E16 and E18.5. Patterns of TCF7L2 peptide localization when compared to the adult protein synthetic chemical/anatomical landscape of glucose sensing exhibit a good correlational fit between its expression and regions, nuclei, and pathways regulating energy homeostasis via integration and response to peripheral endocrine, metabolic and neuronal signaling. TCF was also found co-localized with peptides that regulate energy homeostasis including AgRP, POMC and NPY. TCF7l2, some variants of which have been shown to impair GLP-1-induced insulin secretion, was also found co-localize with GLP-1 in adult TCF wild type progeny. Impaired Tcf7l2-mediated neural regulation may contribute to the risk and/or underlying pathophysiology of type 2 diabetes that has found high expression in genomic studies of Tcf7l2 variants.

Glut2-dependent glucose-sensing controls thermoregulation by enhancing the leptin sensitivity of NPY and POMC neurons

The physiological contribution of glucose in thermoregulation is not completely established nor whether this control may involve a regulation of the melanocortin pathway. Here, we assessed thermoregulation and leptin sensitivity of hypothalamic arcuate neurons in mice with inactivation of glucose transporter type 2 (Glut2)-dependent glucose sensing. Mice with inactivation of Glut2-dependent glucose sensors are cold intolerant and show increased susceptibility to food deprivation-induced torpor and abnormal hypothermic response to intracerebroventricular administration of 2-deoxy-d-glucose compared to control mice. This is associated with a defect in regulated expression of brown adipose tissue uncoupling protein I and iodothyronine deiodinase II and with a decreased leptin sensitivity of neuropeptide Y (NPY) and proopiomelanocortin (POMC) neurons, as observed during the unfed-to-refed transition or following i.p. leptin injection. Sites of central Glut-2 expression were identified by a genetic tagging approach and revealed that glucose-sensitive neurons were present in the lateral hypothalamus, the dorsal vagal complex, and the basal medulla but not in the arcuate nucleus. NPY and POMC neurons were, however, connected to nerve terminals from Glut2-expressing neurons. Thus, our data suggest that glucose controls thermoregulation and the leptin sensitivity of NPY and POMC neurons through activation of Glut2-dependent glucose-sensing neurons located outside of the arcuate nucleus.

Functional magnetic resonance imaging and c-Fos mapping in rats following a glucoprivic dose of 2-deoxy-D-glucose

The glucose analogue, 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG) is an inhibitor of glycolysis and, when administered systemically or centrally, induces glucoprivation leading to counter-regulatory responses, including increased feeding behaviour. Investigations into how the brain responds to glucoprivation could have important therapeutic potential, as disruptions or defects in the defence of the brain's 'glucostatic' circuitry may be partly responsible for pathological conditions resulting from diabetes and obesity. To define the 'glucostat' brain circuitry further we have combined blood-oxygen-level-dependent pharmacological-challenge magnetic resonance imaging (phMRI) with whole-brain c-Fos functional activity mapping to characterise brain regions responsive to an orexigenic dose of 2-DG [200 mg/kg; subcutaneous (s.c.)]. For phMRI, rats were imaged using a T(2)*-weighted gradient echo in a 7T magnet for 60 min under alpha-chloralose anaesthesia, whereas animals for immunohistochemistry were unanaesthetised and freely behaving. These complementary methods demonstrated functional brain activity in a number of previously characterised glucose-sensing brain regions such as those in the hypothalamus and brainstem following administration of 2-DG compared with vehicle. As the study mapped whole-brain functional responses, it also identified the orbitofrontal cortex and striatum (nucleus accumbens and ventral pallidum) as novel 2-DG-responsive brain regions. These regions make up a corticostriatal connection with the hypothalamus, by which aspects of motivation, salience and reward can impinge on the hypothalamic control of feeding behaviour. This study, therefore, provides further evidence for a common integrated circuit involved in the induction of feeding behaviour, and illustrates the valuable potential of phMRI in investigating central pharmacological actions.

Hindbrain neuroglucopenia elicits site-specific transcriptional activation of glutamate decarboxylase-immunopositive neurons in the septopreoptic area of female rat brain

Recent studies implicate the inhibitory neurotransmitter, gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), in septopreoptic (SPO) mechanisms that suppress preovulatory pituitary luteinizing hormone (LH) secretion during neuroglucopenia. Since Fos immunolabeling of the SPO of rats treated by caudal fourth ventricular (CV4) administration of the glucose antimetabolite, 5-thioglucose (5TG), parallels the distribution of GABA neuronal perikarya, the current studies investigated the genomic responsiveness of neuroanatomically-defined populations of glutamate decarboxylase (GAD)-immunoreactive (-ir) neurons in this region of the brain to hindbrain glucoprivation. In lieu of reports that CV4 5TG enhances SPO GABA turnover via mu opioid receptor (mu-R)-dependent mechanisms and evidence that GAD- and mu-R-ir are codistributed within the SPO, patterns of cellular colocalization of these antigens were also evaluated here. Neural tissue was obtained from groups of steroid-primed ovariectomized female rats 2 h after CV4 injection of vehicle or 5TG. Neuronal cell bodies in the lateral and medial septum, medial (MPN) and median preoptic nuclei (MEPO), and rostral medial preoptic area (rMPO) were immunostained for cytoplasmic GAD-ir, but only GAD-reactive neurons in the rMPO and MEPO exhibited robust nuclear colabeling for Fos in response to 5TG. SPO GABA neurons in the vehicle-treated controls were uniformly Fos-ir-negative. Dual immunolabeling for GAD- and mu-R revealed approximately 52% and 36% colabeling of this phenotype in the MEPO and MPN, and colocalization of lesser magnitude (18%) in the rMPO. These results demonstrate site-specific genomic activation of GABAergic neurons in the female rat SPO by CV4 glucose antimetabolite administration, and implicate MEPO and rMPO GABA cell populations in neural pathways that mediate regulatory effects of hindbrain glucoprivic signaling on CNS functions, including inhibition of the steroid positive feedback-activated gonadotropin-releasing hormone/LH neuroendocrine axis. The current studies also support the view that a proportion of neuroglucoprivic-sensitive GABA neurons in the MEPO and rMPO may be direct substrates for mu-R ligand modulatory actions during this state of central substrate imbalance.

Brain glucose sensing, counterregulation, and energy homeostasis

Neuronal circuits in the central nervous system play a critical role in orchestrating the control of glucose and energy homeostasis. Glucose, beside being a nutrient, is also a signal detected by several glucose-sensing units that are located at different anatomical sites and converge to the hypothalamus to cooperate with leptin and insulin in controlling the melanocortin pathway.

Direct involvement of orexinergic systems in the activation of the mesolimbic dopamine pathway and related behaviors induced by morphine

In this study, we investigated the role of orexinergic systems in dopamine-related behaviors induced by the mu-opioid receptor agonist morphine in rodents. Extensive coexpression of tyrosine hydroxylase with orexin receptors was observed in the mouse ventral tegmental area (VTA). The levels of dopamine and its major metabolites in the nucleus accumbens were markedly increased by the microinjection of orexin A and orexin B into the VTA. The subcutaneous morphine-induced place preference and hyperlocomotion observed in wild-type mice were abolished in mice that lacked the prepro-orexin gene. An intra-VTA injection of a selective orexin receptor antagonist SB334867A [1-(2-methylbenzoxazol-6-yl)-3-[1.5]naphthyridin-4-yl urea] significantly suppressed the morphine-induced place preference in rats. Furthermore, the increased level of dialysate dopamine produced by morphine in the mouse brain was significantly decreased by deletion of the prepro-orexin gene. These findings provide new evidence that orexin-containing neurons in the VTA are directly implicated in the rewarding effect and hyperlocomotion induced by morphine through activation of the mesolimbic dopamine pathway in rodents.

Septopreoptic mu opioid receptor mediation of hindbrain glucoprivic inhibition of reproductive neuroendocrine function in the female rat

Central glucostasis is a critical monitored variable in neuroendocrine regulation of pituitary LH secretion. Glucoprivic signals originating within the caudal hindbrain suppress LH. Septopreoptic mu opioid receptors (mu-R) function within neural pathways maintaining basal LH levels and mediate the effects of diverse physiological stimuli on hormone release. To identify potential sites in the septopreoptic area where ligand neuromodulatory actions may occur in response to hindbrain glucoprivic signaling, the present studies evaluated the distribution of mu-R-immunoreactive (-ir) neurons in the septopreoptic area that are genomically activated in response to caudal fourth ventricular (CV4) delivery of the glucose antimetabolite, 5-thioglucose (5TG). The effects of lateral ventricular pretreatment with the selective mu-R antagonist, d-Phe-Cys-Tyr-d-Trp-Orn-Thr-Pen-Thr-NH(2) (CTOP), on LH secretory and GnRH neuronal transcriptional responses to hindbrain glucoprivation were also evaluated. Estradiol benzoate- and progesterone-primed, ovariectomized female rats were treated by CV4 administration of 5TG or the vehicle, saline, at the onset of the afternoon LH surge. The inhibitory effects of hindbrain glucoprivation on mean plasma LH levels as well as colabeling of rostral preoptic GnRH neurons for Fos-ir were attenuated in animals pretreated by lateral ventricular delivery of CTOP. Dual immunocytochemical labeling for septopreoptic mu-R-ir and Fos-ir demonstrated a robust induction of Fos expression by receptor-positive neurons within discrete septopreoptic sites in response to CV4 5TG, a genomic response that was diminished by CTOP pretreatment. The current studies provide novel evidence for the transcriptional activation of neuroanatomically characterized, mu-R-expressing neurons by decreased hindbrain glucose utilization and show that the functional status of mu-R is critical for maximal induction of the Fos stimulus-transcription cascade in these cells by central glucoprivic signaling. The finding that receptor antagonist-mediated suppression of this genomic response is correlated with increased reproductive neuroendocrine output supports a role for these discrete mu-R-expressing neuron populations as substrates for ligand regulatory effects on the GnRH-pituitary LH axis during neuroglucopenia.

Caudal hindbrain glucoprivation enhances gamma-aminobutyric acid release in discrete septopreoptic structures in the steroid-primed ovariectomized rat brain: role of mu opioid receptors

The neurochemical mechanisms underlying hindbrain glucoprivic suppression of the luteinizing hormone (LH) surge are not known. A body of experimental evidence supports the view that gonadal steroid positive-feedback action on the reproductive neuroendocrine axis relieves tonic GABAergic inhibition of gonadotropin-releasing hormone neurons by diminishing preoptic release of this neurotransmitter. The present studies evaluated the hypothesis that hindbrain glucoprivic attenuation of the LH surge may be correlated with site-specific modifications in gonadal steroid suppression of gamma-aminobutyric acid release in this region of the brain. Individual septopreoptic loci were microdissected from the brains of estrogen, progesterone-primed ovariectomized female rats injected with the glucose antimetabolite, 5-thioglucose (5-TG), or vehicle into the caudal fourth ventricle during the ascending phase of the surge, and analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography. The data show that 5- TG administration increased GABA release within the rostral preoptic area (rPO), anteroventral periventricular nucleus (AVPV), and median preoptic nucleus (MEPO), relative to the vehicle-treated controls, but did not alter neurotransmitter release in other structures evaluated. The rate of GABA turnover in each brain site was equivalent between animals injected with the mu opioid receptor antagonist CTOP and 5-TG versus their vehicle-treated controls. These results constitute novel evidence for site-specific modulation of steroid positive-feedback suppression of this inhibitory neurotransmitter by caudal hindbrain signaling of glucose insufficiency, and support the need for neurochemical characterization of glucoprivic-sensitive afferent input to GABAergic neurons terminating within the rPO, AVPV, and MEPO, as well as the relevance of enhanced local GABA release for reproductive neuroendocrine function.

Involvement of the lateral hypothalamic peptide orexin in morphine dependence and withdrawal

The lateral hypothalamus (LH) is implicated in the behavioral actions of drugs of abuse, but the cellular and molecular basis of this role is unclear. Recent identification of neuropeptides localized in LH neurons has allowed for more specific studies of LH function. The LH-specific peptide orexin (hypocretin) has been shown to be important in arousal and sleep regulation. However, orexin cells of the LH project broadly throughout the brain such that orexin may influence other behaviors as well. In this study, we show that orexin neurons, and not nearby LH neurons expressing melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH), have mu-opioid receptors and respond to chronic morphine administration and opiate antagonist-precipitated morphine withdrawal. cAMP response element-mediated transcription is induced in a subset of orexin cells, but not MCH cells, after exposure to chronic morphine or induction of withdrawal. Additionally, c-Fos and the orexin gene itself are induced in orexin cells in the LH during morphine withdrawal. Finally, we show that orexin knock-out mice develop attenuated morphine dependence, as indicated by a less severe antagonist-precipitated withdrawal syndrome. Together, these studies support a role for the orexin system in molecular adaptations to morphine, and demonstrate dramatic differences in molecular responses among different populations of LH neurons.

Endogenous opiates and behavior: 2001

This paper is the twenty-fourth installment of the annual review of research concerning the opiate system. It summarizes papers published during 2001 that studied the behavioral effects of the opiate peptides and antagonists. The particular topics covered this year include the molecular-biochemical effects and neurochemical localization studies of endogenous opioids and their receptors (Section 2), and the roles of these opioid peptides and receptors in pain and analgesia (Section 3); stress and social status (Section 4); tolerance and dependence (Section 5); learning and memory (Section 6); eating and drinking (Section 7); alcohol and drugs of abuse (Section 8); sexual activity and hormones, pregnancy, development and endocrinology(Section 9); mental illness and mood (Section 10); seizures and neurologic disorders (Section 11); electrical-related activity and neurophysiology (Section 12); general activity and locomotion (Section 13); gastrointestinal, renal and hepatic functions (Section 14); cardiovascular responses (Section 15); respiration and thermoregulation (Section 16); and immunological responses (Section 17).