Effect of electrical stimulation of the ventromedial nucleus and the dorsomedial nucleus on the activity of tuberoinfundibular dopaminergic neurons

Sensitization to the neuroendocrine, central monoamine and behavioural effects of murine tumor necrosis factor-alpha: peripheral and central mechanisms

Systemic administration of murine tumour necrosis factor-alpha (mTNF-alpha; 0.1-2.0 microg, i.p.) dose-dependently increased plasma corticosterone and augmented monoamine utilization within the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVN), locus coeruleus, medial prefrontal cortex (PFC), central and medial amygdala. A time-dependent sensitization was induced in mice, wherein reexposure to mTNF-alpha 28 days (but not 1 day) following the initial cytokine treatment provoked marked signs of illness (diminished activity, ptosis, piloerection) and increased plasma corticosterone levels. Serotonin (5-HT) activity was augmented upon mTNF-alpha reexposure at the 1- or 28-day intervals in the PFC and medial amygdala, respectively. Intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.; 1-500 ng) mTNF-alpha did not promote illness, but modestly increased plasma corticosterone levels. Neither the illness nor the corticosterone changes were subject to a sensitization upon i.c.v. cytokine reexposure. Acute i.c.v. mTNF-alpha increased norepinephrine (NE), 5-HT and dopamine (DA) activity within the PVN and median eminence/arcuate nucleus complex (ME/ARC), and NE utilization within the central amygdala. Subsequent i.c.v. mTNF-alpha further enhanced the hypothalamic monoamine variations. Finally, systemic (i.p.) mTNF-alpha pretreatment did not proactively influence sickness or corticosterone responses upon later i.c.v. cytokine challenge, but augmented locus coeruleus NE activity and 5-HT and DA utilization within the ME/ARC. It is suggested that the sensitization with respect to sickness and corticosterone activity in response to mTNF-alpha reflect the involvement of peripheral mechanisms. Moreover, it appears that mTNF-alpha promotes central neurochemical plasticity through independent central and peripheral mechanisms.

Cholecystokinin: critical role in mediating olfactory influences on reproduction

Our electrophysiological studies in female mice have demonstrated that electrical stimulation of the accessory olfactory bulb excites tuberoinfundibular dopaminergic arcuate neurons via the amygdala-stria terminalis route. This study shows that the medial preoptic area is identified as an additional relay for the excitatory transmission by examining the effectiveness of locally infused lignocaine anaesthetic in blocking the transmission and that of electrical stimulation in evoking a shorter latency response. Based on the known immunohistochemical findings, further attention is focused on a transmitter mediating synaptic transmission in the medial preoptic area. The cholecystokinin-B type receptor antagonist L-365,260 (0.3, 0.6, 0.9 pmol), but not the A type receptor antagonist L-364,718 (0.9 pmol), infused into the medial preoptic area, blocked the excitation of tuberoinfundibular arcuate neurons in a dose-dependent manner. Conversely, cholecystokinin octapeptide (0.6 pmol) increased firing activity in such neurons. The antagonizing effect of L-365,260 was reproduced in the context of the olfactory block to pregnancy: bilateral infusions of this drug into the medical preoptic area of recently mated females immediately before exposures to strange males' pheromones prevented them from inducing pregnancy block. These findings implicate cholecystokinin acting on cholecystokinin-B receptors in the medial preoptic area as a mediator of olfactory influences on reproductive physiology.

Excitatory influence of the accessory olfactory bulb on tuberoinfundibular arcuate neurons of female mice and its modulation by oestrogen

The role of the accessory olfactory bulb in conveying pheromonal information to tuberoinfundibular arcuate neurons was examined electrophysiologically in chloral hydrate-anaesthetized, oestrogen (0.5 micrograms in silastic capsules)-treated and untreated ovariectomized Balb/c female mice. Electrical stimulation of the accessory olfactory bulb orthodromically excited part of tuberoinfundibular neurons which were antidromically stimulated from the median eminence and histologically verified as being located within the arcuate nucleus. No inhibitions followed accessory bulb stimulation. The excitatory response to accessory bulb stimulation was reversibly blocked by the local anaesthetic lignocaine infused into the amygdala. The percentage of tuberoinfundibular arcuate neurons responding to accessory bulb stimulation was significantly higher in oestrogen-treated than in untreated animals. There was no difference between the two groups for the antidromic activation threshold, spontaneous firing rate, absolute refractory period or frequency of successful antidromic propagation into the soma of tuberoinfundibular arcuate neurons. In oestrogen-treated preparations, tuberoinfundibular arcuate neurons responsive and unresponsive to accessory bulb stimulation could be distinguished by the frequency of successful antidromic propagation into the soma. These studies demonstrate that olfactory relay neurons in the accessory olfactory bulb act to enhance the activity of a subpopulation of tuberoinfundibular arcuate neurons via the amygdala and that this neural transmission is modulated by oestrogen.