scholarly journals IMPACT OF ADOLESCENT INTERMITTENT ETHANOL EXPOSURE IN MALE AND FEMALE RATS ON SOCIAL DRINKING AND NEUROPEPTIDE GENE EXPRESSION

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Trevor Towner ◽  
Kimberly M Papastrat ◽  
Linda P Spear ◽  
Elena I Varlinskaya ◽  
David F Werner

Background: Alcohol use during adolescence can alter maturational changes that occur in brain regions associated with social and emotional responding. Our previous studies have shown that adult male, but not female rats demonstrate social anxiety-like alterations and enhanced sensitivity to ethanol-induced social facilitation following adolescent intermittent ethanol (AIE) exposure. These consequences of AIE may influence adult social drinking in a sex-specific manner. Methods: To test effects of AIE on social drinking, male and female Sprague-Dawley rats exposed to water or ethanol [0 or 4 g/kg, intragastrically, every other day, between postnatal day (P) 25 and 45] were tested as adults (P72-83) in a social drinking paradigm (30-minute access to a 10% ethanol solution in supersac or supersac alone in groups of three same-sex littermates across two 4-day cycles separated by 4 days off). Social behavior was assessed during the last drinking session, with further assessment of oxytocin (OXT), oxytocin receptor (OXTR), vasopressin (AVP) and vasopressin receptors 1a and 1b (AVPR1a, AVPR1b) in the hypothalamus and lateral septum. Results: Males exposed to AIE consumed more ethanol than water-exposed controls during the second drinking cycle, whereas AIE did not affect supersac intake in males. AIE-exposed females consumed less ethanol and more supersac than water-exposed controls. Water-exposed females drinking ethanol showed more social investigation as well as significantly higher hypothalamic OXTR, AVP, and AVPR1b gene expression than their counterparts ingesting supersac and AIE females drinking ethanol. In males, hypothalamic AVPR1b gene expression was affected by drinking solution, with significantly higher expression evident in males drinking ethanol than those consuming supersac. Conclusions: Collectively, these findings provide new evidence regarding sex-specific effects of AIE on social drinking and suggest that the hypothalamic OXT and AVP systems are implicated in the effects of ingested ethanol on social behavior in a sex- and adolescent exposure-dependent manner.

2020 ◽  
Vol 303 (10) ◽  
pp. 2657-2667 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryan J. Wood‐Bradley ◽  
Sarah L. Henry ◽  
Sanna Barrand ◽  
Anais Giot ◽  
Luke Eipper ◽  
...  

BMC Genomics ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Cynthia A. Kelm-Nelson ◽  
Stephen Gammie

Abstract Background Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a degenerative disease with early-stage pathology hypothesized to manifest in brainstem regions. Vocal deficits, including soft, monotone speech, result in significant clinical and quality of life issues and are present in 90% of PD patients; yet the underlying pathology mediating these significant voice deficits is unknown. The Pink1−/− rat is a valid model of early-onset PD that presents with analogous vocal communication deficits. Previous work shows abnormal α-synuclein protein aggregation in the periaqueductal gray (PAG), a brain region critical and necessary to the modulation of mammalian vocal behavior. In this study, we used high-throughput RNA sequencing to examine gene expression within the PAG of both male and female Pink1−/− rats as compared to age-matched wildtype controls. We used a bioinformatic approach to (1) test the hypothesis that loss of Pink1 in the PAG will influence the differential expression of genes that interact with Pink1, (2) highlight other key genes that relate to this type of Mendelian PD, and (3) catalog molecular targets that may be important for the production of rat vocalizations. Results Knockout of the Pink1 gene resulted in differentially expressed genes for both male and female rats that also mapped to human PD datasets. Pathway analysis highlighted several significant metabolic pathways. Weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) was used to identify gene nodes and their interactions in (A) males, (B) females, and (C) combined-sexes datasets. For each analysis, within the module containing the Pink1 gene, Pink1 itself was the central node with the highest number of interactions with other genes including solute carriers, glutamate metabotropic receptors, and genes associated with protein localization. Strong connections between Pink1 and Krt2 and Hfe were found in both males and female datasets. In females a number of modules were significantly correlated with vocalization traits. Conclusions Overall, this work supports the premise that gene expression changes in the PAG may contribute to the vocal deficits observed in this PD rat model. Additionally, this dataset identifies genes that represent new therapeutic targets for PD voice disorders.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. A974-A974
Author(s):  
Marco Antonio Parra-Montes de Oca ◽  
Karen Lissette Garduño-Morales ◽  
Patricia Joseph-Bravo

Abstract Voluntary exercise activates HPT axis1, that contributes to energy mobilization and energy expenditure. Chronic stress in adulthood inhibits HPT response to voluntary wheel running in a sex dependent manner, inhibiting lipolysis of WAT2. We evaluated the effect of chronic stress during adolescence on HPT axis response to voluntary exercise in adulthood3, with emphasis on metabolic response in skeletal muscle and WAT. Wistar male and female rats (N=36 per sex) were divided in an undisturbed group (Control, C; n=18) and one chronic variable stress during adolescence group (CVS; n=18) (males: PND 30-70; females: PND 30-60). As adults (males: PND 84; females: PND: 74) rats were divided in: 1) exercise group: rats placed individually in a cage with a running wheel per 14 nights, 2) sedentary group with ad libitum feeding, 3) sedentary pair-fed group offered the same amount of food consumed by the exercised group, and kept in individual cages during 14 nights (6 rats/group). WAT weight was determined at sacrifice, hormones quantified by RIA and ELISA, gene expression by RT-PCR. Exercise-induced loss of fat mass was not detected in CVS rats. Exercise decreased corticosterone levels in C males and females of both treatments, supporting sex difference on HPA axis reprogramming by CVS. HPT axis response to voluntary exercise is attenuated by CVS also in a sex dimorphic manner: CVS decreased Trh expression in hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus and no changes in thyroid hormones concentration in males, whereas in females, slightly increased TSH, T4 and T3 levels. Sex also influenced the response of skeletal muscle and WAT to CVS. Dio2 and Pgc1a slightly increased expression in skeletal muscle of males, not of females. Adrb3 expression in WAT increased in females, but not in males; exercise-induced stimulation of Hsl expression was not observed in either sex after CVS. These results suggest that CVS imposed during rat adolescence inhibits the responses to voluntary exercise of HPT axis activity of thyroid hormone-targets in WAT and skeletal muscle in sex dependent manner. These changes could lead to reduced mobilization and the utilization of energy fuels coincident with the fatigue observed after exercise in patients with subclinical or clinical hypothyroidism. (Funded: CONACYT 284883, DGAPA IN213419)1Uribe, Endocrinology 155:2020-2030, 2014.2Parra, Front Endocrinol 10(418):1-13, 2019.3Parra, J Endocr Soc 4(Abstract Supp) Abstract SAT-451, 2020.


Hypertension ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 78 (Suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ji Hye Chun ◽  
Melissa M Henckel ◽  
Leslie A Knaub ◽  
Lori A Walker ◽  
Jane E Reusch ◽  
...  

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a leading cause of hospitalization and death. CVD is characterized by impaired vasoreactivity and mitochondrial dysfunction. Perivascular adipose tissue (PVAT), considered brown adipose tissue (BAT), surrounds the vasculature and regulates its response. Preliminary data with rats housed at either their thermoneutrality (TN, 30°C) or room temperature (RT, 22°C) showed diminished vasodilation in aorta from TN rats as compared with those from RT rats (10.2% ± 4.0% (0.159 g of vasodilation capacity, starting from maximal force constriction of 1.563 g) versus 64.2% ± 5.3% (0.909 g of 1.417 g, p<0.001). TN-housed rat aorta also showed less mitochondrial respiration with lipid substrates in multiple states (p<0.05). We hypothesize that remodeling of PVAT phenotype from BAT to white adipose tissue (WAT) may alter mitochondrial lipid utilization and cause vasoreactivity dysfunction. To test this, we housed male and female rats at either RT or TN and investigated their own PVAT + aorta or PVAT from the oppositely- housed animals along with each rat’s own aorta for vasoreactivity ex situ. There was diminished vasodilation in all TN animals with PVAT + aorta (29.2% ± 3.8% (0.269 g of 0.923 g) versus 37.6% ± 6.0% (0.255 g of 0.677 g), p<0.02), with only male animals showing a significant effect from PVAT (p<0.001). In aorta of TN-housed animals analyzed with PVAT from RT-housed animals, female vessels showed an increase in vasodilation capacity as compared to controls (56.8% ± 13.6% (0.589 g of 1.037 g) versus 5.2% ± 2.3% (0.028 g of 0.534 g), p<0.001), strongly suggesting that PVAT not only regulates vasoreactivity, but can repair TN-induced diminished dilation in a sex-dependent manner. All animals at TN had significantly less mitochondrial respiration with lipid substrates (p<0.05), with no sex differences. We further observed a significantly greater amount of lipids in PVAT from male TN-housed animals as compared to that in RT-housed animals (p<0.05), consistent with a WAT phenotype. Our data support that TN alters PVAT phenotype in a sex-dependent manner, resulting in dysfunctional vasoreactivity and mitochondrial function. These targets of CVD in both male and female animals are exciting avenues for novel therapeutics.


Metabolism ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 51 (12) ◽  
pp. 1562-1568 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tatsuo Nakahara ◽  
Makoto Hirano ◽  
Hideyuki Uchimura ◽  
Sima Shirali ◽  
Colin R. Martin ◽  
...  

2013 ◽  
Vol 238 (9) ◽  
pp. 1033-1046 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isabelle R Miousse ◽  
Horacio Gomez-Acevedo ◽  
Neha Sharma ◽  
Jamie Vantrease ◽  
Leah Hennings ◽  
...  

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paula Duarte-Guterman ◽  
Stephanie E. Lieblich ◽  
Wansu Qiu ◽  
Jared E.J. Splinter ◽  
Kimberly A. Go ◽  
...  

AbstractOxytocin regulates social behaviours, pair bonding and hippocampal neurogenesis but most studies have used adult males. Our study investigated the effects of oxytocin on social investigation and adult hippocampal neurogenesis in male and female rats. Oxytocin has poor penetration of the blood-brain barrier, therefore we tested a nanoparticle drug, TRIOZANTM (Ovensa Inc.), which permits greater blood-brain-barrier penetration. Adult male and female rats were injected daily (i.p.) for 10 days with either: oxytocin in PBS (0.5 or 1.0 mg/kg), oxytocin in TRIOZANTM (0.5 or 1.0 mg/kg), or vehicle (PBS) and tested for social investigation. Oxytocin decreased body mass and increased social investigation and number of oxytocin-immunoreactive cells in the supraoptic nucleus (SON) of the hypothalamus in male rats only. In both sexes, oxytocin decreased the number of immature neurons (doublecortin+ cells) in the ventral hippocampus and reduced plasma 17β-estradiol levels in a dose- and delivery-dependent way. Oxytocin in TRIOZANTM reduced sedation observed post-injection and increased some central effects (oxytocin levels in the hypothalamus and ventral hippocampus neurogenesis) relative to oxytocin in PBS indicating that the nanoparticle may be used as an alternative brain delivery system. We showed that oxytocin has sex-specific effects on social investigation, body mass, sedation, and the oxytocin system. In contrast, similar effects were observed in both sexes in neurogenesis and plasma 17β-estradiol. Our work suggests that sex differences in oxytocin regulation of brain endpoints is region-specific (hypothalamus versus hippocampus) and that oxytocin does not promote social investigation in females.


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