RESUMO
Systemic inflammatory response syndrome is associated with either fever or hypothermia, but the mechanisms responsible for switching from one to the other are unknown. In experimental animals, systemic inflammation is often induced by bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS). To identify the diencephalic and brainstem structures involved in the fever-hypothermia switch, we studied the expression of c-Fos protein, a marker of neuronal activation, in rats treated with the same high dose of LPS (0.5 mg/kg, intravenously) either in a thermoneutral (30 °C) or cool (24 °C) environment. At 30 °C, LPS caused fever; at 24 °C, the same dose caused profound hypothermia. Both fever and hypothermia were associated with the induction of c-Fos in many brain areas, including several structures of the anterior preoptic, paraventricular, lateral, and dorsal hypothalamus, the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, the posterior pretectal nucleus, ventrolateral periaqueductal gray, lateral parabrachial nucleus, area postrema, and nucleus of the solitary tract. Every brain area studied showed a comparable response to LPS at the two different ambient temperatures used, with the exception of two areas: the dorsomedial hypothalamic nucleus (DMH), which we studied together with the adjacent dorsal hypothalamic area (DA), and the paraventricular hypothalamic nucleus (PVH). Both structures had much stronger c-Fos expression during LPS hypothermia than during fever. We propose that PVH and DMH/DA neurons are involved in a circuit, which - depending on the ambient temperature - determines whether the thermoregulatory response to bacterial LPS will be fever or hypothermia.
Assuntos
Núcleo Hipotalâmico Dorsomedial/metabolismo , Neurônios/metabolismo , Núcleo Hipotalâmico Paraventricular/metabolismo , Animais , Regulação da Temperatura Corporal , Núcleo Hipotalâmico Dorsomedial/imunologia , Expressão Gênica , Lipopolissacarídeos/imunologia , Masculino , Neurônios/imunologia , Núcleo Hipotalâmico Paraventricular/imunologia , Proteínas Proto-Oncogênicas c-fos/genética , Proteínas Proto-Oncogênicas c-fos/metabolismo , Ratos , TemperaturaRESUMO
Our aim was to investigate the effect of central NOS inhibition on hypothalamic arginine vasopressin (AVP) gene expression, hormone release and on the cardiovascular response during experimental sepsis. Male Wistar rats were intracerebroventricularly injected with the non-selective NO synthase (NOS) inhibitor (L-NAME) or aminoguanidine, a selective inhibitor of the inducible isoform (iNOS). After 30 min, sepsis was induced by cecal ligation and puncture (CLP) causing an increase in heart rate (HR), as well as a reduction in median arterial pressure (MAP) and AVP expression ratio (AVP(R)), mainly in the supraoptic nucleus. AVP plasma levels (AVPp) increased in the early but not in the late phase of sepsis. L-NAME pretreatment increased MAP but did not change HR. It also resulted in an increase in AVPp at all time points, except 24h, when it returned to basal levels. AVP(R), however remained reduced in both nuclei. Aminoguanidine pretreatment resulted in increased MAP in the early phase and higher AVP(R) in the supraoptic, but not in the paraventricular nucleus, while AVPp remained elevated at all time points. We suggest that increased central NO production, mainly inducible NOS-derived, reduces AVP gene expression differentially in supraoptic and paraventricular nuclei, and that this may contribute to low AVP plasma levels and hypotension in the late phase of sepsis.
Assuntos
Arginina Vasopressina/biossíntese , Arginina Vasopressina/genética , Regulação da Expressão Gênica , Óxido Nítrico Sintase Tipo II/antagonistas & inibidores , Óxido Nítrico Sintase Tipo II/fisiologia , Núcleo Hipotalâmico Paraventricular/enzimologia , Sepse/imunologia , Núcleo Supraóptico/enzimologia , Animais , Regulação da Expressão Gênica/imunologia , Injeções Intraventriculares , Masculino , NG-Nitroarginina Metil Éster/administração & dosagem , Óxido Nítrico/antagonistas & inibidores , Óxido Nítrico/metabolismo , Núcleo Hipotalâmico Paraventricular/imunologia , Núcleo Hipotalâmico Paraventricular/patologia , Ratos , Ratos Wistar , Sepse/enzimologia , Sepse/patologia , Núcleo Supraóptico/imunologia , Núcleo Supraóptico/patologiaRESUMO
Experimental airway allergy in mice leads to increased activity in specific hypothalamic and amygdaloid nuclei, and behavioral changes. The experiments described here were designed to determine the role of anaphylactic antibodies, mast cell degranulation, and lung inflammation in the neural and behavioral correlates of an experimental murine asthma-like response. Animals were sensitized intraperitoneally with ovalbumin adsorbed to alum, and challenged by intranasal ovalbumin instillation or aerosol. To induce immunological tolerance, animals were fed ovalbumin in the drinking water for 5 consecutive days, along with primary sensitization. Depletion of IgE was also accomplished with a non-anaphylactic anti-IgE antibody. Mast cell degranulation was inhibited by cromolyn. In addition to BALB/c animals, C3H/HeJ mice were used for their relative resistance to lung allergic inflammation. We confirmed that ovalbumin challenge in allergic mice leads to increased activity in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus and central nucleus of the amygdala, and avoidance behavior towards an allergen-associated compartment. Moreover, these responses were precluded by oral tolerance or anti-IgE treatment, even in the presence of IgG1. Cromolyn abrogates both responses in the presence of anaphylactic antibodies. Finally, although sensitized C3H/HeJ mice did not develop airway inflammation, they exhibited brain and behavioral changes similar to BALB/c animals. The repercussions of murine allergic asthma on brain and behavior are IgE-dependent, mediated by mast cell degranulation, and do not require a pulmonary inflammatory infiltrate, suggesting that the early phase of this immediate allergic response suffices for the brain activation associated with avoidance behavior towards exposure to the allergen.