Does endogenous peripheral arginine vasopressin have a role in the febrile responses of conscious rabbits?

Vasopressin as Possible Treatment Option in Autism Spectrum Disorder

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is rather common, presenting with prevalent early problems in social communication and accompanied by repetitive behavior. As vasopressin was implicated not only in salt-water homeostasis and stress-axis regulation, but also in social behavior, its role in the development of ASD might be suggested. In this review, we summarized a wide range of problems associated with ASD to which vasopressin might contribute, from social skills to communication, motor function problems, autonomous nervous system alterations as well as sleep disturbances, and altered sensory information processing. Beside functional connections between vasopressin and ASD, we draw attention to the anatomical background, highlighting several brain areas, including the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus, medial preoptic area, lateral septum, bed nucleus of stria terminalis, amygdala, hippocampus, olfactory bulb and even the cerebellum, either producing vasopressin or containing vasopressinergic receptors (presumably V1a). Sex differences in the vasopressinergic system might underline the male prevalence of ASD. Moreover, vasopressin might contribute to the effectiveness of available off-label therapies as well as serve as a possible target for intervention. In this sense, vasopressin, but paradoxically also V1a receptor antagonist, were found to be effective in some clinical trials. We concluded that although vasopressin might be an effective candidate for ASD treatment, we might assume that only a subgroup (e.g., with stress-axis disturbances), a certain sex (most probably males) and a certain brain area (targeting by means of virus vectors) would benefit from this therapy.

The Role of Neurotransmitters in Protection against Amyloid- β Toxicity by KiSS-1 Overexpression in SH-SY5Y Neurons

Recent studies have suggested that the kisspeptin (KP) and kissorphin (KSO) peptides have neuroprotective actions against the Alzheimer's amyloid-β (Aβ) peptide. Overexpression of the human KiSS-1 gene that codes for KP and KSO peptides in SH-SY5Y neurons has also been shown to inhibit Aβ neurotoxicity. The in vivo actions of KP include activation of neuroendocrine and neurotransmitter systems. The present study used antagonists of KP, neuropeptide FF (NPFF), opioids, oxytocin, estrogen, adrenergic, cholinergic, dopaminergic, serotonergic, and γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) receptors plus inhibitors of catalase, cyclooxygenase, nitric oxide synthase, and the mitogen activated protein kinase cascade to characterize the KiSS-1 gene overexpression neuroprotection against Aβ cell model. The results showed that KiSS-1 overexpression is neuroprotective against Aβ and the action appears to involve the KP or KSO peptide products of KiSS-1 processing. The mechanism of neuroprotection does not involve the activation of the KP or NPFF receptors. Opioids play a role in the toxicity of Aβ in the KiSS-1 overexpression system and opioid antagonists naloxone or naltrexone inhibited Aβ toxicity. The mechanism of KiSS-1 overexpression induced protection against Aβ appears to have an oxytocin plus a cyclooxygenase dependent component, with the oxytocin antagonist atosiban and the cyclooxygenase inhibitor SC-560 both enhancing the toxicity of Aβ.

LPS-induced Fos expression in oxytocin and vasopressin neurons of the rat hypothalamus

The aim of this study was to examine the involvement of the hypothalamic oxytocin (OXT) and vasopressin (AVP) neurons in acute phase reaction using quantitative dual-labeled immunostaining with Fos and either OXT and AVP in several hypothalamic regions. Administration of low dose (5 microg/kg) and high dose (125 microg/kg) of LPS induced intense nuclear Fos immunoreactivity in many OXT and AVP neurons in all the observed hypothalamic regions. The percentage of Fos-positive nuclei in OXT magnocellular neurons was higher than that of AVP magnocellular neurons in the supraoptic nucleus (SON), the magnocellular neurons in the paraventricular nucleus (magPVN), rostral SON (rSON), and nucleus circularis (NC), whose axons terminate at the posterior pituitary for peripheral release. The percentage of Fos-positive nuclei in AVP parvocellular neurons in the paraventricular nucleus (parPVN) was higher than that of OXT parvocellular neurons, whose axons terminate within the brain for central release. Moreover, the percentage of Fos-positive nuclei in AVP magnocellular neurons of the SON and rSON was significantly higher than that of the magPVN and NC when animals were given LPS via intraperitoneal (i.p.)-injection. This regional heterogeneity was not observed in OXT magnocellular neurons of i.p.-injected rats or in either OXT or AVP magnocellular neurons of intravenous (i.v. )-injected rats. The present data suggest that LPS-induced peripheral release of AVP and OXT is due to the activation of the magnocellular neurons in the SON, magPVN, NC, and rSON, and the central release of those hormones is in part derived from the activation of parvocellular neurons in the PVN. It is also suggested that the activation of AVP magnocellular neurons is heterogeneous among the four hypothalamic regions, but that of OXT magnocellular neurons is homogenous among these brain regions in response to LPS administration.

Pyrogenic stimulation of vascular resistance in conscious sheep

Increased arterial blood pressure following a pyrogenic reaction has been reported in previous studies, however the mechanism of this hypertension has not been examined in detail. The present study investigated the effects of both intravenous (IV) and intracerebroventricular (ICV) injection of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) from E. coli on body temperature (Tb), mean arterial pressure (MAP), heart rate (HR), cardiac output (CO), calculated total peripheral resistance (CTPR), stroke volume (SV) and plasma levels of adrenocorticotropin (ACTH) and arginine vasopressin (AVP) in conscious, chronically instrumented sheep. IV injection of LPS (1 microgram) increased Tb in a biphasic manner from 38.7 +/- 0.1 to 39.5 +/- 0.2 degrees C after 50 min and to 39.9 +/- 0.2 degrees C after 130 min, and MAP increased biphasically from 64 +/- 1 to 70 +/- 4 mmHg after 40 min and to 78 +/- 3 mmHg after 130 min. CO initially decreased from 4.4 +/- 0.1 to 3.5 +/- 0.1 after 40 min followed by a secondary rise to 4.8 +/- 0.1 l/min after 100 min. This occurred together with a large, biphasic increase in CTPR from 14.5 +/- 1.0 to 22.0 +/- 2.0 mmHg/l/min at 40 min, and to 18.1 +/- 0.1 mmHg/l/min at 120 min. HR increased from 68 +/- 4 to 97 +/- 4 b/min and SV decreased from 65 +/- 2 to 41 +/- 4 ml/beat during the first phase of activation. Plasma ACTH increased from 22 +/- 9 to 1043 +/- 175 pg/ml after 80 min, and plasma AVP increased from 0.7 +/- 0.2 to 12 +/- 4.0 pg/ml after 60 min. ICV injection of LPS produced a long-lasting increase in Tb and MAP, but had no effect on HR or plasma AVP. Plasma ACTH increased from 30 +/- 12 to 427 +/- 110 pg/ml. These changes suggest that intravenous pyrogenic infection produces a potent vasoconstrictor action in sheep to increase blood pressure, possibly mediated by the actions of AVP within the CNS, or other pyrogenically released vasoconstrictor factors. Furthermore, the duration of activation of the cardiovascular system following peripheral and central LPS administration is different, which together with the contrasting effects on ACTH and AVP, indicate the involvement of several hypertensive mechanisms.