Donner, Nina and Bredewold, Remco and Maloumby, Rodrigue and Neumann, Inga D. (2007) Chronic intracerebral prolactin attenuates neuronal stress circuitries in virgin rats. EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE, 25 (6). pp. 1804-1814. ISSN 0953-816X, 1460-9568
Full text not available from this repository. (Request a copy)Abstract
Prolactin (PRL) has been shown to promote maternal behaviour, and to regulate neuroendocrine and emotional stress responses. These effects appear more important in the peripartum period, when the brain PRL system is highly activated. Here, we studied the mechanisms that underlie the anti-stress effects of PRL. Ovariectomized, estradiol-substituted Wistar rats were implanted with an intracerebroventricular cannula and treated with ovine PRL (0.01, 0.1 or 1 mu g/h; 5 days via osmotic minipumps) or vehicle, and their responses to acute restraint stress was assessed. Chronic PRL treatment exerted an anxiolytic effect on the elevated plus-maze, and attenuated the acute restraint-induced rise in plasma adrenocorticotropin, corticosterone and noradrenaline. At the neuronal level, in situ hybridization revealed PRL effects on the expression patterns of the immediate-early gene c-fos and corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF). Under basal conditions, PRL significantly reduced c-fos mRNA expression within the central amygdala. In response to restraint, the expression of both c-fos mRNA and protein and of CRF mRNA was decreased in the parvocellular part of the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) of PRL-treated compared with vehicle-treated animals. In conclusion, our data demonstrate that chronic elevation of PRL levels within the brain results in reduced neuronal activation within the hypothalamus, specifically within the PVN, in response to an acute stressor. Thus, PRL acting at various relevant brain regions exerts profound anxiolytic and anti-stress effects, and is likely to contribute to the attenuated stress responsiveness found in the peripartum period, when brain PRL levels are physiologically upregulated.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | PITUITARY-ADRENAL AXIS; RECEPTOR MESSENGER-RNA; HYPOTHALAMIC PARAVENTRICULAR NUCLEUS; CORTICOTROPIN-RELEASING HORMONE; REPEATED RESTRAINT STRESS; ANXIETY-RELATED BEHAVIOR; IN-SITU HYBRIDIZATION; C-FOS EXPRESSION; GENE-EXPRESSION; FEMALE RATS; anxiety; c-fos; corticotropin-releasing factor; paraventricular nucleus; stress |
| Subjects: | 500 Science > 570 Life sciences 500 Science > 590 Zoological sciences |
| Divisions: | Biology, Preclinical Medicine > Institut für Zoologie > Tierphysiologie/Neurobiologie (Prof. Dr. Inga Neumann) |
| Depositing User: | Petra Gürster |
| Date Deposited: | 28 Oct 2020 11:03 |
| Last Modified: | 28 Oct 2020 11:03 |
| URI: | https://pred.uni-regensburg.de/id/eprint/33073 |
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