scholarly journals Skin cooling‐evoked responses of rostral raphe pallidus (rRPa) neurons with slowly conducting spinal axons – putative sympathetic premotor neurons for brown adipose tissue (BAT)

2007 ◽  
Vol 21 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shaun F Morrison
2004 ◽  
Vol 286 (5) ◽  
pp. R832-R837 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shaun F. Morrison

To elucidate the central neural pathways contributing to the thermogenic component of the autonomic response to intravenous administration of leptin, experiments were conducted in urethane-chloralose-anesthetized, ventilated rats to address 1) the role of neurons in the rostral ventromedial medulla, including raphe pallidus (RPa), in the leptin-evoked stimulation of brown adipose tissue (BAT) sympathetic nerve activity (SNA); and 2) the potential thermolytic effect of 5-hydroxytryptamine1A (5-HT1A) receptors on RPa neurons that influence BAT thermogenesis. Leptin (1 mg/kg) administration increased BAT SNA by 1,219% of control, BAT temperature by 2.8°C, expired CO2 by 1.8%, heart rate by 90 beats/min, and mean arterial pressure by 12 mmHg. Microinjection of the 5-HT1A receptor agonist 8-hydroxy-2-(di-n-propylamino)tetralin (8-OH-DPAT) into RPa resulted in a prompt and sustained reversal of the leptin-evoked stimulation of BAT SNA, BAT thermogenesis, and heart rate, with these variables returning to their pre-leptin control levels. Subsequent microinjection of the selective 5-HT1A receptor antagonist WAY-100635 into RPa reversed the BAT thermolytic effects of 8-OH-DPAT, returning BAT SNA and BAT temperature to the elevated levels after leptin. In conclusion, activation of neurons in RPa, possibly BAT sympathetic premotor neurons, is essential for the increases in BAT SNA, BAT thermogenesis, and heart rate stimulated by intravenous administration of leptin. Neurons in RPa express 5-HT1A receptors whose activation leads to reversal of the BAT thermogenic and the cardiovascular responses to intravenous leptin, possibly through hyperpolarization of local sympathetic premotor neurons. These results contribute to our understanding of central neural substrates for the augmented energy expenditure stimulated by leptin.


Author(s):  
Ellen Paula Santos da Conceição Furber ◽  
Clarissa M.D. Mota ◽  
Edward Veytsman ◽  
Shaun F. Morrison ◽  
Christopher J. Madden

Systemic administration of dopamine (DA) receptor agonists leads to falls in body temperature. However, the central thermoregulatory pathways modulated by DA have not been fully elucidated. Here we identified a source and site of action contributing to DA's hypothermic action by inhibition of brown adipose tissue (BAT) thermogenesis. Nanoinjection of the type 2 and type 3 DA receptor (D2R/D3R) agonist, 7-OH-DPAT, in the rostral raphe pallidus area (rRPa) inhibits the sympathetic activation of BAT evoked by cold exposure or by direct activation of NMDA receptors in the rRPa. Blockade of D2R/D3R in the rRPa with nanoinjection of SB-277011A increases BAT thermogenesis, consistent with a tonic release of DA in the rRPa contributing to inhibition of BAT thermogenesis. Accordingly, D2R are expressed in cold-activated and serotonergic neurons in the rRPa and anatomical tracing studies revealed that neurons in the posterior hypothalamus (PH) are a source of dopaminergic input to the rRPa. Disinhibitory activation of PH neurons with nanoinjection of gabazine inhibits BAT thermogenesis, which is reduced by pre-treatment of the rRPa with SB-277011A. In conclusion, the rRPa, the site of sympathetic premotor neurons for BAT, receives a tonically-active, dopaminergic input from the PH that suppresses BAT thermogenesis.


2009 ◽  
Vol 296 (3) ◽  
pp. R831-R843 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. J. Madden ◽  
S. F. Morrison

The paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVH) plays an important role in energy homeostasis, regulating neuroendocrine, behavioral, and autonomic functions. However, the role of the PVH in regulating thermogenesis and energy expenditure in brown adipose tissue (BAT) is unclear. The present study investigated the effect of activating neurons within the PVH on BAT thermogenesis. In urethane- and chloralose-anesthetized, artificially ventilated rats maintained at a core body temperature of 37.0–38.0°C, microinjection of N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA, 12 pmol in 60 nl) in the PVH did not increase BAT sympathetic nerve activity (SNA) or BAT thermogenesis. In contrast, the increase in BAT SNA evoked by body cooling was completely reversed by microinjection of NMDA in the PVH. Additionally, the increases in BAT SNA evoked by body cooling, by microinjection of prostaglandin E2 (170 pmol in 60 nl) in the medial preoptic area or by microinjection of bicuculline (30 pmol in 60 nl) in the dorsomedial hypothalamus were completely reversed by microinjection of bicuculline (30 pmol in 60 nl) in the PVH. Although the increases in BAT SNA and thermogenesis evoked by microinjection of NMDA (12 pmol in 60 nl) in the raphe pallidus (RPa) was markedly attenuated following microinjection of bicuculline (30 pmol) in the PVH, the increases in BAT SNA and thermogenesis evoked by microinjection of bicuculline (30 pmol in 60 nl) in the RPa were unaffected by microinjection of bicuculline in the PVH. These results demonstrate that disinhibition of neurons in the PVH inhibits BAT SNA likely via activation of a GABAergic input to BAT sympathetic premotor neurons in the RPa.


2010 ◽  
Vol 299 (1) ◽  
pp. R277-R290 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei-Hua Cao ◽  
Christopher J. Madden ◽  
Shaun F. Morrison

Neurons in the ventrolateral medulla (VLM) and in the nucleus tractus solitarius (NTS) play important roles in the regulation of cardiovascular and other autonomic functions. In the present study, we demonstrate an inhibition of brown adipose tissue (BAT) thermogenesis evoked by activation of neurons in the VLM, as well as by neurons in the intermediate NTS, of chloralose/urethane-anesthetized, artificially ventilated rats. Activation of neurons in either rostral VLM or caudal VLM with N-methyl-d-aspartate (12 nmol) reversed the cold-evoked increase in BAT sympathetic nerve activity (SNA), BAT temperature, and end-expired CO2. Disinhibition of neurons in either VLM or NTS with the GABAA receptor antagonist, bicuculline (30 pmol), reversed the increases in BAT SNA, BAT temperature, and end-expired CO2 that were elicited 1) by cold defense; 2) during the febrile model of nanoinjection of prostaglandin E2 into the medial preoptic area; 3) by activation of neurons in the dorsomedial hypothalamus or in the rostral raphe pallidus (rRPa); or 4) by the μ-opioid receptor agonist fentanyl. Combined, but not separate, inhibitions of neurons in the VLM and in the NTS, with the GABAA receptor agonist, muscimol (120 pmol/site), produced increases in BAT SNA, BAT temperature, and expired CO2, which were reversed by nanoinjection of glycine (30 nmol) into the rRPa. These findings suggest that VLM and NTS contain neurons whose activation inhibits BAT thermogenesis, that these neurons receive GABAergic inputs that are active under these experimental conditions, and that neurons in both sites contribute to the tonic inhibition of sympathetic premotor neuronal activity in the rRPa that maintains a low level of BAT thermogenesis in normothermic conditions.


2007 ◽  
Vol 292 (1) ◽  
pp. R127-R136 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kazuhiro Nakamura ◽  
Shaun F. Morrison

Control of thermoregulatory effectors by the autonomic nervous system is a critical component of rapid cold-defense responses, which are triggered by thermal information from the skin. However, the central autonomic mechanism driving thermoregulatory effector responses to skin thermal signals remains to be determined. Here, we examined the involvement of several autonomic brain regions in sympathetic thermogenic responses in brown adipose tissue (BAT) to skin cooling in urethane-chloralose-anesthetized rats by monitoring thermogenic [BAT sympathetic nerve activity (SNA) and BAT temperature], metabolic (expired CO2), and cardiovascular (arterial pressure and heart rate) parameters. Acute skin cooling, which did not reduce either rectal (core) or brain temperature, evoked increases in BAT SNA, BAT temperature, expired CO2, and heart rate. Skin cooling-evoked thermogenic, metabolic, and heart rate responses were inhibited by bilateral microinjections of bicuculline (GABAA receptor antagonist) into the preoptic area (POA), by bilateral microinjections of muscimol (GABAA receptor agonist) into the dorsomedial hypothalamic nucleus (DMH), or by microinjection of muscimol, glycine, 8-OH-DPAT (5-HT1A receptor agonist), or kynurenate (nonselective antagonist for ionotropic excitatory amino acid receptors) into the rostral raphe pallidus nucleus (rRPa) but not by bilateral muscimol injections into the lateral/dorsolateral part or ventrolateral part of the caudal periaqueductal gray. These results implicate the POA, DMH, and rRPa in the central efferent pathways for thermogenic, metabolic, and cardiac responses to skin cooling, and suggest that these pathways can be modulated by serotonergic inputs to the medullary raphe.


2012 ◽  
Vol 302 (2) ◽  
pp. R224-R232 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. J. Madden

In urethane/α-chloralose anesthetized rats, cold exposure increased brown adipose tissue sympathetic nerve activity (BAT SNA: +699 ± 104% control). Intravenous administration of 2-deoxy-d-glucose (2-DG; 200 mg·ml−1·kg−1) reversed the cold-evoked activation of BAT SNA (nadir: 139 ± 36% of control) and decreased BAT temperature (−1.1 ± 0.2°C), expired CO2 (−0.4 ± 0.1%), and core temperature (−0.5 ± 0.0). Similarly, unilateral nanoinjection of the glucoprivic agent 5-thioglucose (5-TG; 12 μg/100 nl) in the ventrolateral medulla (VLM) completely reversed the cold-evoked increase in BAT SNA (nadir: 104 ± 7% of control), and decreased TBAT (−1.4 ± 0.3°C), expired CO2 (−0.2 ± 0.0%), and heart rate (−35 ± 10 beats/min). The percentage of rostral raphé pallidus (RPa)-projecting neurons in the dorsal hypothalamic area/dorsomedial hypothalamus that expressed Fos in response to cold exposure (ambient temperature: 4–10°C) did not differ between saline (28 ± 6%) and 2-DG (30 ± 5%) pretreated rats, whereas the percentage of spinally projecting neurons in the RPa/raphé magnus that expressed Fos in response to cold exposure was lower in 2-DG- compared with saline-pretreated rats (22 ± 6% vs. 42 ± 5%, respectively). The increases in BAT SNA evoked by nanoinjection of bicuculline in the RPa or by transection of the neuraxis at the pontomedullary border were resistant to inhibition by glucoprivation. These results suggest that neurons within the VLM play a role in the glucoprivic inhibition of BAT SNA and metabolism, that this inhibition requires neural structures rostral to the pontomedullary border, and that this inhibition is mediated by a GABAergic input to the RPa.


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