scholarly journals Immunohistochemical Studies on Sympathetic and Non-sympathetic Nerve Fibers and Neuronal Cell Bodies in the Pineal Gland of Cotton Rats, Sigmodon hispidus.

1994 ◽  
Vol 57 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuko SAKAI ◽  
Yoshiki HIRA ◽  
Yukio OOMORI ◽  
Shigeo DAIKOKU ◽  
Shoji MATSUSHIMA
2015 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Ziółkowska ◽  
B. Lewczuk ◽  
B. Przybylska-Gornowicz

Abstract Norepinephrine (NE) released from the sympathetic nerve endings is the main neurotransmitter controlling melatonin synthesis in the mammalian pineal gland. Although neuropeptide Y (NPY) co-exists with NE in the pineal sympathetic nerve fibers it also occurs in a population of non-adrenergic nerve fibers located in this gland. The role of NPY in pineal physiology is still enigmatic. The present study characterizes the effect of NPY on the depolarization-evoked 3H-NE release from the pig pineal explants. The explants of the pig pineal gland were loaded with 3H-NE in the presence of pargyline and superfused with Tyrode medium. They were exposed twice to the modified Tyrode medium containing 60 mM of K+ to evoke the 3H-NE release via depolarization. NPY, specific agonists of Y1- and Y2-receptors and pharmacologically active ligands of α2-adrenoceptors were added to the medium before and during the second depolarization. The radioactivity was measured in medium fractions collected every 2 minutes during the superfusion. NPY (0.1 – 10 μM) significantly decreased the depolarization-induced 3H-NE release. Similar effect was observed after the treatment with Y2-agonist: NPY13-36, but not with Y1-agonist: [Leu31, Pro34]-NPY. The tritium overflow was lower in the explants exposed to the 5 μM NPY and 1 μM rauwolscine than to rauwolscine only. The effects of 5 μM NPY and 0.05 μM UK 14,304 on the depolarization-evoked 3H-NE release were additive. The results show that NPY is involved in the regulation of NE release from the sympathetic terminals in the pig pineal gland, inhibiting this process via Y2-receptors.


2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Morten Møller ◽  
Pansiri Phansuwan-Pujito ◽  
Corin Badiu

Neuropeptide Y was isolated from the porcine brain in 1982 and shown to be colocalized with noradrenaline in sympathetic nerve terminals. The peptide has been demonstrated to be present in sympathetic nerve fibers innervating the pineal gland in many mammalian species. In this investigation, we show by use of immunohistochemistry that neuropeptide Y is present in nerve fibers of the adult human pineal gland. The fibers are classical neuropeptidergic fibers endowed with largeboutons en passageand primarily located in a perifollicular position with some fibers entering the pineal parenchyma inside the follicle. The distance from the immunoreactive terminals to the pinealocytes indicates a modulatory function of neuropeptide Y for pineal physiology. Some of the immunoreactive fibers might originate from neurons located in the brain and be a part of the central innervation of the pineal gland. In a series of human fetuses, neuropeptide Y-containing nerve fibers was present and could be detected as early as in the pineal of four- to five-month-old fetuses. This early innervation of the human pineal is different from most rodents, where the innervation starts postnatally.


1974 ◽  
Vol 22 (10) ◽  
pp. 967-975 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. J. H. TILDERS ◽  
J. S. PLOEM ◽  
P. G. SMELIK

The formaldehyde-induced fluorescence (FIF) of pineal sections of the rat was measured quantitatively under instrumental conditions causing minimal photodecomposition. Fluorescence measurements on different sections of one pineal gland showed only little variation. Also the difference between animal variation was small, which enabled us to use groups of five to six animals for appropriate determinations. The similarity in emission spectra obtained from the pineal gland and a 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT)-containing protein model and the results of pharmacologic specificity tests indicated that pineal FIF is derived from 5-HT. Pineal 5-HT seemed to be stored in two compartments: the pinealocytes and the sympathetic nerve fibers. Reserpine, a drug depleting the neuronal 5-HT pool selectively, induced about 30% decrease in chemically detectable 5-HT content, indicating that 30% of total pineal 5-HT content was stored in the nerve fibers, and 70% was stored in the pinealocytes. FIF was not affected by reserpine, suggesting that FIF measurements were largely independent of the neuronal 5-HT store. The relationship between pineal FIF and chemically detectable 5-HT content was investigated in groups of rats treated with drugs increasing or decreasing pineal 5-HT content. From each group, five pineal glands were prepared for microfluorimetrical studies; the remaining pineal glands were used for chemical determinations of 5-HT and protein content. The linearity of this relationship demonstrated that concentration-dependent quenching did not occur in the fluorescence measured. Therefore it was concluded that FIF might be used as a quantitative parameter for 5-HT stored in the pinealocytes.


2013 ◽  
Vol 80 (2) ◽  
pp. 188-194 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johannes Beckmann ◽  
Matthias Knödl ◽  
Eva Bauser ◽  
Markus Tingart ◽  
Joachim Grifka ◽  
...  

1992 ◽  
Vol 106 (1) ◽  
pp. 42-46 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kuniyoshi Tsuda ◽  
Takemoto Shin ◽  
Sadahiko Masuko

To study the mechanism of autonomic regulation in the larynx, intralaryngeal local ganglia of the cat were investigated using immunohistochemical techniques. Small intralaryngeal ganglia were found in the peripheral portions of internal branches of the superior laryngeal nerve. Ninety-one percent of the ganglionic neurons were immunoreactive (IR) to vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP), and 10% of the VIP-IR cells were also immunoreactive to enkephalin (ENK) and/or substance P (SP). The immunoreactivity of neuronal cell bodies remained unchanged even after denervation of the bilateral superior and recurrent laryngeal nerves. A dense distribution of calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP)-IR nerve fibers was found around almost all neuronal cells in the intralaryngeal. ganglia. A few VIP-IR, ENK-IR, and SP-IR nerve fibers were also observed. Only the CGRP-IR fibers disappeared after the denervation experiments. in the laryngeal glands and mucosal arterioles, VIP-IR nerve terminals were found that were also immunoreactive to ENK and/or SP. However, these Immunoreactive nerve endings in the glands and arterioles remained after the denervation experiments. The results of our study indicate that laryngeal exocrine secretion and blood flow are regulated by postganglionic autonomic parasympathetic fibers from intralaryngeal ganglia that contain VIP alone or VIP with ENK and/or SP, and that these ganglionic neurons may be innervated by CGRP-IR extrinsic nerve fibers.


2001 ◽  
Vol 203 (5) ◽  
pp. 357-366 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. A. Kido ◽  
Jing-Qi Zhang ◽  
Harue Muroya ◽  
Takayoshi Yamaza ◽  
Yoshihiro Terada ◽  
...  

2011 ◽  
Vol 301 (5) ◽  
pp. E955-E966 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annabelle Reaux-Le Goazigo ◽  
Laurence Bodineau ◽  
Nadia De Mota ◽  
Lydie Jeandel ◽  
Nicolas Chartrel ◽  
...  

Neuronal networks originating in the hypothalamic arcuate nucleus (Arc) play a fundamental role in controlling energy balance. In the Arc, neuropeptide Y (NPY)-producing neurons stimulate food intake, whereas neurons releasing the proopiomelanocortin (POMC)-derived peptide α-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (α-MSH) strongly decrease food intake. There is growing evidence to suggest that apelin and its receptor may play a role in the central control of food intake, and both are concentrated in the Arc. We investigated the presence of apelin and its receptor in Arc NPY- and POMC-containing neurons and the effects of apelin on α-MSH release in the hypothalamus. We showed, by immunofluorescence and confocal microscopy, that apelin-immunoreactive (IR) neuronal cell bodies were distributed throughout the rostrocaudal extent of the Arc and that apelin was strongly colocalized with POMC, but weakly colocalized with NPY. However, there were numerous NPY-IR nerve fibers close to the apelin-IR neuronal cell bodies. By combining in situ hybridization with immunohistochemistry, we demonstrated the presence of apelin receptor mRNA in Arc POMC neurons. Moreover, using a perifusion technique for hypothalamic explants, we demonstrated that apelin-17 (K17F) increased α-MSH release, suggesting that apelin released somato-dendritically or axonally from POMC neurons may stimulate α-MSH release in an autocrine manner. Consistent with these data, hypothalamic apelin levels were found to be higher in obese db/db mice and fa/fa Zucker rats than in wild-type animals. These findings support the hypothesis that central apelin is involved in regulating body weight and feeding behavior through the direct stimulation of α-MSH release.


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