Biomedical subjects

M S Rocca

Publications and source records attributed to M S Rocca.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1996

GABAergic neuronal activity and mRNA levels for both forms of glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD65 and GAD67) are reduced in the diagonal band of Broca during the afternoon of proestrus.

There is considerable evidence that GABAergic neurons play an important role in the regulation of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) secretion, and that these neurons may mediate the feedback actions of gonadal steroids on GnRH neurons. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether endogenous changes in ovarian steroid secretion during the estrous cycle influenced GABAergic neuronal activity in the preoptic region of the hypothalamus, and in other steroid-sensitive brain regions. Intact, adult female rats were sacrificed at various times during the days of metestrus or proestrus. GABAergic neuronal activity was estimated by measuring the rate of accumulation of GABA in microdissected brain regions after pharmacological inhibition of GABA degradation. Concentrations of mRNA for both forms of glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD65 and GAD67) were quantified in microdissected brain regions by a microlysate ribonuclease protection assay. In the diagonal band of Broca at the level of the organum vasculosum of the lamina terminalis (DBB(ovlt)), GABAergic neuronal activity was significantly reduced during the afternoon of proestrus compared with the morning of either proestrus or metestrus. In the lateral septal nucleus, GABAergic neuronal activity was significantly increased in the afternoon of proestrus compared with the morning. There were no significant effects of time of day or day of estrous cycle in the medial preoptic nucleus, median eminence, ventromedial nucleus, suprachiasmatic nucleus, medial septal nucleus, hippocampus (CA1 region), or cingulate cortex. In the DBB(ovlt), mRNA levels for both GAD65 and GAD67 were significantly reduced in the afternoon of proestrus compared with the afternoon of metestrus. By contrast, there was no change in GAD65 and GAD67 mRNA levels in the cingulate cortex at any of the times examined. These results demonstrate that GABAergic neuronal activity, and mRNA levels for both GAD65 and GAD67, are reduced in the DBB(ovlt) during the afternoon of proestrus. These results support the hypothesis that decreased GABAergic neuronal activity in this region plays a major permissive role in the generation and maintenance of the estrogen-induced LH surge.

Animals↗

PubMed1996

Evidence for sexual differentiation of glia in rat brain.

It is well established that gonadal steroids mediate sexual differentiation of the brain via direct effects on neurons during a restricted critical period. In addition, estrogen can influence glial morphology in the adult brain, and in vitro studies suggest estrogen induces glial differentiation. However, there is a lack of in vivo evidence for steroid effects on glia during the critical period. We report here a hormone-mediated sexual differentiation of arcuate glia as early as Postnatal Day 1. Using glial fibrillary acidic protein immunoreactivity (GFAP-ir), we compared the responsiveness of astroglia in the rat arcuate nucleus among five hormonally different groups. The results indicate increased GFAP-ir cell surface area 24 hr after hormonal manipulation in castrate males compared to intact males, intact females (ANOVA; P < 0.01), and females injected with testosterone propionate (50 microg; ANOVA; P < 0.05). However, astroglia in intact males extended their processes significantly greater distances from the cell body compared to all other treatment groups (ANOVA; P < 0.01). The GFAP-ir cells were categorized into four distinct classes ranging from a simple bipolar to a fully stellate morphology. The frequency distribution of classes varied between groups with more stellate cells found in intact males. Finally, these sex differences in arcuate glia persisted into adulthood. We hypothesize that during the critical period, testosterone, or its metabolite estrogen, induce sexual differentiation of glia. We further hypothesize that in females glial cells remain partially undifferentiated and this may be important to glial plasticity seen in adult female arcuate.

Animals↗

PubMed1996

Antiandrogen microimplants into the rostral medial preoptic area decrease gamma-aminobutyric acidergic neuronal activity and increase luteinizing hormone secretion in the intact male rat.

gamma-Aminobutyric acid (GABA)ergic neurons terminating in the rostral hypothalamus are stimulated by testosterone. To investigate whether this action is mediated locally through androgen receptors in the rostral hypothalamus, bilateral microcannulas (28 gauge) containing the androgen receptor antagonist, hydroxyflutamide (HF), were stereotaxically implanted into the rostral medial preoptic area (rMPA) just dorsal to the major population of GnRH cell bodies. Two days later, blood samples were collected for assay of LH, and animals were killed for determination of GABAergic neuronal activity in tissue dissected from the site of the implanted cannulas. Animals were decapitated either without treatment or 60 min after inhibition of GABA degradation by aminooxyacetic acid (100 mg/kg, ip). The rate of GABA accumulation in the tissue after aminooxyacetic acid treatment was used as a measure of GABA turnover. Levels of messenger RNA for both forms of glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD65 and GAD67), the rate-limiting enzyme responsible for GABA synthesis also were measured by a microlysate ribonuclease protection assay. LH levels were significantly increased (1.8-fold) in HF-treated animals compared with controls. In the MPA, beneath the implant cannulas, GABA turnover was significantly reduced in HF-treated rats. There was no effect of treatment in the frontal cortex, which was used as a control region. Surprisingly, levels of messenger RNA for both GAD65 and GAD67 were significantly increased in HF-treated rats. The results indicate that GABAergic neurons terminating in the rostral hypothalamus are tonically stimulated by testosterone acting by means of androgen receptors localized in this region. These findings support the working hypothesis that androgen-sensitive GABAergic neurons in the rMPA mediate the negative feedback action of testosterone on GnRH secretion in the male rat.

Androgen Antagonists↗