Search results for "hypothalamus"
showing 10 items of 164 documents
Exposure to a Highly Caloric Palatable Diet During Pregestational and Gestational Periods Affects Hypothalamic and Hippocampal Endocannabinoid Levels…
2016
Journal Article; Exposure to unbalanced diets during pre-gestational and gestational periods may result in long-term alterations in metabolism and behavior. The contribution of the endocannabinoid system to these long-term adaptive responses is unknown. In the present study, we investigated the impact of female rat exposure to a hypercaloric-hypoproteic palatable diet during pre-gestational, gestational and lactational periods on the development of male offspring. In addition, the hypothalamic and hippocampal endocannabinoid contents at birth and the behavioral performance in adulthood were investigated. Exposure to a palatable diet resulted in low weight offspring who exhibited low hypotha…
Tangential Intrahypothalamic Migration of the Mouse Ventral Premamillary Nucleus and Fgf8 Signaling
2021
The tuberal hypothalamic ventral premamillary nucleus (VPM) described in mammals links olfactory and metabolic cues with mating behavior and is involved in the onset of puberty. We offer here descriptive and experimental evidence on a migratory phase in the development of this structure in mice at E12.5–E13.5. Its cells originate at the retromamillary area (RM) and then migrate tangentially rostralward, eschewing the mamillary body, and crossing the molecularly distinct perimamillary band, until they reach a definitive relatively superficial ventral tuberal location. Corroborating recent transcriptomic studies reporting a variety of adult glutamatergic cell types in the VPM, and different p…
Bifidobacterium CECT 7765 modulates early stress-induced immune, neuroendocrine and behavioral alterations in mice.
2016
Emerging evidence suggests that there is a window of opportunity within the early developmental period, when microbiota-based interventions could play a major role in modulating the gut-brain axis and, thereby, in preventing mood disorders. This study aims at evaluating the effects and mode of action of Bifidobacterium pseudocatenulatum CECT 7765 in a murine model of chronic stress induced by maternal separation (MS). C57Bl/6J male breast-fed pups were divided into four groups, which were subjected or not to MS and supplemented with placebo or B. pseudocatenulatum CECT7765 until postnatal period (P) 21 and followed-up until P41. Behavioral tests were performed and neuroendocrine parameters …
Melanin-concentrating hormone axons, but not orexin or tyrosine hydroxylase axons, innervate the claustrum in the rat: An immunohistochemical study
2016
The claustrum is a small, elongated nucleus close to the external capsule and deep in the insular cortex. In rodents, this nucleus is characterized by a dense cluster of parvalbumin labeling. The claustrum is connected with the cerebral cortex. It does not project to the brainstem, but brainstem structures can influence this nucleus. To identify some specific projections from the lateral hypothalamus and midbrain, we analyzed the distribution of projections labeled with antibodies against tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH), and hypocretin (Hcrt) in the region of the claustrum. The claustrum contains a significant projection by MCH axons, whereas it is devoid of T…
Improvements to Healthspan Through Environmental Enrichment and Lifestyle Interventions: Where Are We Now?
2020
Environmental enrichment (EE) is an experimental paradigm that is used to explore how a complex, stimulating environment can impact overall health. In laboratory animal experiments, EE housing conditions typically include larger-than-standard cages, abundant bedding, running wheels, mazes, toys, and shelters which are rearranged regularly to further increase stimulation. EE has been shown to improve multiple aspects of health, including but not limited to metabolism, learning and cognition, anxiety and depression, and immunocompetence. Recent advances in lifespan have led some researchers to consider aging as a risk factor for disease. As such, there is a pressing need to understand the pro…
Development of the GABAergic and glutamatergic neurons of the lateral hypothalamus.
2021
In the last few years we assist to an unexpected deluge of genomic data on hypothalamic development and structure. Perhaps most surprisingly, the Lateral Zone has received much attention too. The new information focuses first of all on transcriptional heterogeneity. Many already known and a number of hitherto unknown lateral hypothalamic neurons have been described to an enormous degree of detail. Maybe the most surprising novel discoveries are two: First, some restricted regions of the embryonic forebrain neuroepithelium generate specific LHA neurons, either GABAergic or glutamatergic. Second, evidence is mounting that supports the existence of numerous kinds of "bilingual" lateral hypotha…
Spontaneous brain processing of the mammary pheromone in rabbit neonates prior to milk intake.
2016
International audience; Chemical signals play a critical role in interindividual communication, including mother-young relationships. Detecting odor cues released by the mammary area is vital to the newborn's survival. European rabbit females secret a mammary pheromone (MP) in their milk, which releases sucking related orocephalic movements in newborns. Pups spontaneously display these typical movements at birth, independently of any perinatal learning. Our previous Fos mapping study (Charra et al., 2012) performed in 4-day-old rabbits showed that the MP activated a network of brain regions involved in osmoregulation, odor processing and arousal in comparison with a control odor. However, a…
Involvement of interleukin-1 type 1 receptors in lipopolysaccharide-induced sickness responses
2017
Sickness responses to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) were examined in mice with deletion of the interleukin (IL)-1 type 1 receptor (IL-1R1). IL-1R1 knockout (1(0) mice displayed intact anorexia and HPA-axis activation to intraperitoneally injected LPS (anorexia: 10 or 120 mu g/kg; HPA-axis: 120 mu g/kg), but showed attenuated but not extinguished fever (120 g/kg). Brain PGE2 synthesis was attenuated, but Cox-2 induction remained intact. Neither the tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF alpha) inhibitor etanercept nor the IL -6 receptor antibody tocilizumab abolished the LPS induced fever in IL -1R1 KO mice. Deletion of IL -1R1 specifically in brain endothelial cells attenuated the LPS induced fever, b…
Maternal Caloric Restriction Implemented during the Preconceptional and Pregnancy Period Alters Hypothalamic and Hippocampal Endocannabinoid Levels a…
2016
Journal Article; Exposure to inadequate nutritional conditions in critical windows of development has been associated to disturbances on metabolism and behavior in the offspring later in life. The role of the endocannabinoid system, a known regulator of energy expenditure and adaptive behaviors, in the modulation of these processes is unknown. In the present study, we investigated the impact of exposing rat dams to diet restriction (20% less calories than standard diet) during pre-gestational and gestational periods on: (a) neonatal outcomes; (b) endocannabinoid content in hypothalamus, hippocampus and olfactory bulb at birth; (c) metabolism-related parameters; and (d) behavior in adult mal…
Modulation of brain PUFA content in different experimental models of mice.
2016
International audience; The relative amounts of arachidonic acid (AA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) govern the different functions of the brain. Their brain levels depend on structures considered, on fatty acid dietary supply and the age of animals. To have a better overview of the different models available in the literature we here compared the brain fatty acid composition in various mice models (C57BL/6J, CD1, Fat-1, SAMP8 mice) fed with different n-3 PUFA diets (deficient, balanced, enriched) in adults and aged animals. Our results demonstrated that brain AA and DHA content is 1) structure-dependent; 2) strain-specific; 3) differently affected by dietary approaches when compared to gen…