Effect of chronic intra-accumbens administration of the TRH analogue CG3509 on histamine-induced behaviour in the rat

Origin of thyrotropin-releasing hormone neurons that innervate the tuberomammillary nuclei

Hypophysiotropic thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) neurons function as metabolic sensors that regulate the thyroid axis and energy homeostasis. Less is known about the role of other hypothalamic TRH neurons. As central administration of TRH decreases food intake and increases histamine in the tuberomammillary nuclei (TMN), and TMN histamine neurons are densely innervated by TRH fibers from an unknown origin, we mapped the location of TRH neurons that project to the TMN. The retrograde tracer, cholera toxin B subunit (CTB), was injected into the TMN E1-E2, E4-E5 subdivisions of adult Sprague-Dawley male rats. TMN projecting neurons were observed in the septum, preoptic area, bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST), perifornical area, anterior paraventricular nucleus, peduncular and tuberal lateral hypothalamus (TuLH), suprachiasmatic nucleus and medial amygdala. However, CTB/pro-TRH178-199 double-labeled cells were only found in the TuLH. The specificity of the retrograde tract-tracing result was confirmed by administering the anterograde tracer, Phaseolus vulgaris leuco-agglutinin (PHAL) into the TuLH. Double-labeled PHAL-pro-TRH boutons were identified in all subdivisions of the TMN. TMN neurons double-labeled for histidine decarboxylase (Hdc)/PHAL, Hdc/Trh receptor (Trhr), and Hdc/Trh. Further confirmation of a TuLH-TRH neuronal projection to the TMN was established in a transgenic mouse that expresses Cre recombinase in TRH-producing cells following microinjection of a Cre recombinase-dependent AAV that expresses mCherry into the TuLH. We conclude that, in rodents, the TRH innervation of TMN originates in part from TRH neurons in the TuLH, and that this TRH population may contribute to regulate energy homeostasis through histamine Trhr-positive neurons of the TMN.

Histamine in the nervous system

Histamine is a transmitter in the nervous system and a signaling molecule in the gut, the skin, and the immune system. Histaminergic neurons in mammalian brain are located exclusively in the tuberomamillary nucleus of the posterior hypothalamus and send their axons all over the central nervous system. Active solely during waking, they maintain wakefulness and attention. Three of the four known histamine receptors and binding to glutamate NMDA receptors serve multiple functions in the brain, particularly control of excitability and plasticity. H1 and H2 receptor-mediated actions are mostly excitatory; H3 receptors act as inhibitory auto- and heteroreceptors. Mutual interactions with other transmitter systems form a network that links basic homeostatic and higher brain functions, including sleep-wake regulation, circadian and feeding rhythms, immunity, learning, and memory in health and disease.

Activation of mesolimbic dopaminergic neurons following central administration of histamine is mediated by H1 receptors

The effect of intracerebroventricular administration of histamine on the activity of mesolimbic and nigrostriatal dopaminergic (DA) neurons was determined in male rats. The activity of these neurons was estimated by measuring: (1) the accumulation of 3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (DOPA) after administration of a decarboxylase inhibitor, and (2) the concentration of 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC) in the nucleus accumbens and striatum, which contain the terminals of these neurons. Central administration of histamine increased both DOPA accumulation and DOPAC concentrations in the nucleus accumbens, but was without effect in the striatum. The increase in DOPAC concentrations in the nucleus accumbens occurred within 10 min and was sustained for at least 120 min. The H1 antagonist mepyramine blocked whereas the H2 antagonist zolantidine did not affect histamine-induced increases in DOPAC concentrations in the nucleus accumbens. Neither mepyramine nor zolantidine affected basal DOPAC concentrations in the nucleus accumbens. These results indicate that central administration of histamine stimulates mesolimbic DA neurons through an action at the H1 receptor, but has no effect upon the activity of nigrostriatal DA neurons.