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Differential response of arcuate proopiomelanocortin‐ and neuropeptide Y‐containing neurons to the lesion produced by gold thioglucose administration
Author(s) -
Homma Akiko,
Li HongPeng,
Hayashi Kaori,
Kawano Yukari,
Kawano Hitoshi
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
journal of comparative neurology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.855
H-Index - 209
eISSN - 1096-9861
pISSN - 0021-9967
DOI - 10.1002/cne.21097
Subject(s) - arcuate nucleus , proopiomelanocortin , hypothalamus , neuropeptide y receptor , lesion , endocrinology , medicine , nucleus , neuropeptide , biology , neuroscience , receptor , pathology
The effect of gold thioglucose (GTG) administration on neurons containing feeding‐related peptides in the hypothalamic arcuate nucleus was examined in mice. Intraperitoneal GTG injection increased the body weight and produced a hypothalamic lesion that extended from the ventral part of the ventromedial nucleus to the dorsal part of the arcuate nucleus. Neurons containing proopiomelanocortin (POMC) and neuropeptide Y (NPY) present in the dorsal part of the arcuate nucleus were destroyed by GTG. In addition, the peptide‐containing fibers that extended from the remaining arcuate neurons were degenerated at the lesion site. The number of POMC‐containing fibers in the paraventricular nucleus, dorsomedial nucleus, and lateral hypothalamus was found to have decreased significantly when examined at 2 days and 2 weeks after the GTG treatment. In contrast, the number of NPY‐containing fibers in the lateral hypothalamus remained unchanged after the GTG treatment, probably because of the presence of an unaffected NPY‐containing fiber pathway passing through the tuberal region and projecting onto the lateral hypothalamus. The number of NPY‐immunoreactive fibers in the paraventricular and dorsomedial nuclei showed a moderate but significant decrease at 2 days after the GTG treatment, but it recovered to the normal levels 2 weeks later. The NPY‐containing fibers were found to have regenerated across the lesion site 2 weeks later, and this might contribute to the recovery of the NPY‐immunoreactive fibers in these regions. The present results first demonstrate that POMC‐ and NPY‐containing neurons in the arcuate nucleus respond differently to the lesion produced by the GTG treatment. J. Comp. Neurol. 499:120–131, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.