Chemical identity and connections of medial preoptic area neurons expressing melanin-concentrating hormone during lactation

Autor(es)

Rondini, Tatiane Araujo ^[1] ; Donato, Jr., Jose ^[2] ; Rodrigues, Bruno de Crudis ^[1] ; Bittencourt, Jackson Cioni ^{[3, 1]} ; Elias, Carol Fuzeti ^{[1, 2]}

Afiliação do(s) autor(es)

^[1] Univ Sao Paulo, Dept Anat, Inst Biomed Sci, Lab Chem Neuroanat, BR-05508900 Sao Paulo - Brazil

^[2] Univ Texas SW Med Ctr Dallas, Dept Internal Med, Div Hypothalam Research, Dallas, TX 75390 - USA

^[3] Univ Sao Paulo, Inst Psychol, Ctr Neurosci & Behav, BR-05508900 Sao Paulo - Brazil

• Tipo de documento: Artigo Científico
• Fonte: Journal of Chemical Neuroanatomy; v. 39, n. 1, p. 51-62, JAN 2010.
• Citações Web of Science: 25

Resumo

Lactation is an energy-demanding process characterized by massive food and water consumption, cessation of the reproductive cycle and induction of maternal behavior. During lactation, melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH) mRNA and peptide expression are increased in the medial preoptic area (MPO) and in the anterior paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus. Here we show that MCH neurons in the MPO coexpress the GABA synthesizing enzyme GAD-67 mRNA. We also show that MCH neurons in the MPO of female rats are innervated by neuropeptides that control energy homeostasis including agouti-related protein (AgRP), alpha-melanocyte stimulating hormone (alpha MSH) and cocaine- and amphetamine-regulated transcript (CART). Most of these inputs originate from the arcuate nucleus neurons. Additionally, using injections of retrograde tracers we found that CART neurons in the ventral premammillary nucleus also innervate the MPO. We then assessed the projections of the female MPO using injections of anterograde tracers. The MPO densely innervates hypothalamic nuclei related to reproductive control including the anteroventral periventricular nucleus, the ventrolateral subdivision of the ventromedial nucleus (VMHvl) and the ventral premammillary nucleus (PMV). We found that the density of MCH-ir fibers is increased in the VMHvl and PMV during lactation. Our findings suggest that the expression of MCH in the MPO may be induced by changing levels of neuropeptides involved in metabolic control. These MCH/GABA neurons may, in turn, participate in the suppression of cyclic reproductive function and/or sexual behavior during lactation through projections to reproductive control sites. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. (AU)

• Processo FAPESP: 05/50951-5 - Caracterizacao neuroquimica e hodologica dos neuronios que expressam o hormonio concentrador de melanina (mch) na area pre-optica durante a amamentacao.
• Beneficiário: Carol Fuzeti Elias
• Modalidade de apoio: Auxílio à Pesquisa - Regular
• Processo FAPESP: 04/13849-5 - Circuitos peptidérgicos envolvidos na organização do comportamento alimentar
• Beneficiário: Jackson Cioni Bittencourt
• Modalidade de apoio: Auxílio à Pesquisa - Temático
• Processo FAPESP: 02/11240-8 - Estudo das aferências do núcleo do tracto solitário imunorreativas a urocortina
• Beneficiário: Anne Pierre de Oliveira
• Modalidade de apoio: Bolsas no Brasil - Mestrado