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s Hyperphagia triggers and accelerates diabetes, and prevents proper dietary control of glycemia. Inversely, the impact of hyperglycemia on hyperphagia and possible mechanistic cause common for these two metabolic disorders in type 2 diabetes are less defined. The present study examined the precise developmental process of hyperglycemia and hyperphagia and explored the alterations in the hypothalamic arcuate nucleus (ARC), the primary feeding and metabolic center, in Goto-Kakizaki (GK) rats with type 2 diabetes and nearly normal body weight. At mid 3 to 4 weeks of age, GK rats first exhibited hyperglycemia, and then hyperphagia and reduced mRNA expressions for anorexigenic pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) and glucokinase in ARC. Furthermore, [Ca2+]i responses to high glucose in ARC POMC neurons were impaired in GK rats at 4 weeks. Treating GK rats from early 3 to mid 6 weeks of age with an anti-diabetic medicine miglitol not only suppressed hyperglycemia but ameliorated hyperphagia and restored POMC mRNA expression in ARC. These results suggest that the early hyperglycemia occurring in weaning period may lead to impaired glucose sensing and neuronal activity of POMC neurons, and thereby induce hyperphagia in GK rats. Correction of hyperglycemia in the early period may prevent and/or ameliorate the progression of hyperphagia in type 2 diabetes.

The National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES) of Japan established a strain of Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica) known as NIES-L by rotation breeding in a closed colony for over 35years; accordingly, the strain has highly inbred-like characteristics. Another strain called NIES-Brn has been maintained by randomized breeding in a closed colony to produce outbred-like characteristics. The current study aimed to characterize intermale aggressive behaviors in both strains and to identify possible factors regulating higher aggression in the hypothalamus, such as sex hormone and neuropeptide expression. Both strains displayed a common set of intermale aggressive behaviors that included pecking, grabbing, mounting, and cloacal contact behavior, although NIES-Brn quail showed significantly more grabbing, mounting, and cloacal contact behavior than did NIES-L quail. We examined sex hormone levels in the blood and diencephalon in both strains. Testosterone concentrations were significantly higher in the blood and diencephalon of NIES-Brn quail compared to NIES-L quail. We next examined gene expression in the hypothalamus of both strains using an Agilent gene expression microarray and real-time RT-PCR and found that gene expression of mesotocin (an oxytocin homologue) was significantly higher in the hypothalamus of NIES-Brn quail compared to NIES-L quail. Immunohistochemistry of the hypothalamus revealed that numbers of large cells (cell area>500μm2) expressing mesotocin were significantly higher in the NIES-Brn strain compared to the NIES-L strain. Taken together, our findings suggest that higher testosterone and mesotocin levels in the hypothalamus may be responsible for higher aggression in the NIES-Brn quail strain.

In order to better understand the roles that melanocortin receptors (cMCRs) and melanocortin-2 receptor accessory proteins (cMRAP1 and cMRAP2) play in the HPA axis and hypothalamus, adrenal gland and hypothalamus mRNA from 1day-old white leghorn chicks (Gallus gallus), were analyzed by real-time PCR. mRNA was also made for kidney, ovary, and liver. Mrap1 mRNA could be detected in adrenal tissue, but not in any of the other tissues, and mrap2 mRNA was also detected in the adrenal gland. Finally, all five melanocortin receptors mRNAs could be detected in the adrenal gland; mc2r and mc5r mRNAs were the most abundant. To evaluate any potential interactions between MRAP1 and the MCRs that may occur in adrenal cells, individual chick mcr cDNA constructs were transiently expressed in CHO cells either in the presence or absence of a chick mrap1 cDNA, and the transfected cells were stimulated with hACTH(1-24) at concentrations ranging from 10-13M to 10-6M. As expected, MC2R required co-expression with MRAP1 for functional expression; whereas, co-expression of cMC3R with cMRAP1 had no statistically significant effect on sensitivity to hACTH(1-24). However, co-expression of MC4R and MC5R with MRAP1, increased sensitivity for ACTH(1-24) by approximately 35 fold and 365 fold, respectively. However, co-expressing of cMRAP2 with these melanocortin receptors had no effect on sensitivity to hACTH(1-24). Since the real-time PCR analysis detected mrap2 mRNA and mc4r mRNA in the hypothalamus, the interaction between cMC4R and cMRAP2 with respect to sensitivity to ACTH(1-13)NH2 stimulation was also evaluated. However, no effect, either positive or negative, was observed. Finally, the highest levels of mc5r mRNA were detected in liver cells. This observation raises the possibility that in one-day old chicks, activation of the HPA axis may also involve a physiological response from liver cells.

Developmental exposure to environmental chemicals with estrogen-like activity has been known to permanently impair women’s health. In this study, we examined whether tris(2,6-dimethylphenyl) phosphate (TDMPP), an impurity in flame retardant that is not classified as endocrine disruptor at present, impairs sexual differentiation of the brain in mice. Either TDMPP, 17beta-estradiol (E2) as a positive control, or sesame oil as a negative control was administered during late pregnancy and early postnatal period and female reproductive functions of offspring were elucidated. Precocious puberty, irregular estrous cycles, and lowered lordosis response were found in TDMPP-treated group as well as E2-treated group. We also detected masculinization of sexual dimorphic nuclei in the hypothalamus of female mice after TDMPP treatment. Taken together, our empirical evidence suggests that the developmental exposure to TDMPP by using products containing TDMPP might be a potential risk to impair female reproductive functions at later life stages.

Arsenic compounds that are often found in drinking water increase the risk of developmental brain disorders. In this study, we performed live imaging analyses of Neuro-2a cells expressing SCAT3, a caspase-3 cleavage peptide sequence linking two fluorescent proteins; enhanced cyan fluorescence protein (ECFP) and Venus, to determine whether sodium arsenite (NaAsO(2); 0, 1, 5, or 10 μM) affects both neurite outgrowth and/or induces apoptosis with the same doses and in the same cell cultures. We observed that the area ratio of neurite to cell body in SCAT3-expressing cells was significantly reduced by 5 and 10 μM NaAsO(2), but not by 1 μM, although the emission ratio of ECFP to Venus, an endpoint of caspase-3 activity, was not changed. However, cytological assay using apoptotic and necrotic markers resulted in that apoptosis, but not necrosis, was significantly induced in Neuro-2a cells when NaAsO(2) exposure continued after the significant effects of NaAsO(2) on neurite outgrowth were found by live imaging. These results suggested that neurite outgrowth was suppressed by NaAsO(2) prior to NaAsO(2)-induced apoptosis. Next, we examined the effects of NaAsO(2) on cytoskeletal gene expression in Neuro-2a cells. NaAsO(2) increased the mRNA levels of the light and medium subunits of neurofilament and decreased the mRNA levels of tau and tubulin in a dose-dependent manner; no significant effect was found in the mRNA levels of the heavy subunit of neurofilament, microtubule-associated protein 2, or actin. The changes in cytoskeletal gene expression are likely responsible for the inhibitory effects of NaAsO(2) on neurite outgrowth.

There has been a long-standing need to develop efficient and standardized behavioral test methods for evaluating higher-order brain functions in mice. Here, we developed and validated a behavioral flexibility test in mice using IntelliCage, a fully automated behavioral analysis system for mice in a group-housed environment. We first developed a "behavioral sequencing task" in the IntelliCage that enables us to assess the learning ability of place discrimination and behavioral sequence for reward acquisition. In the serial reversal learning using the task, the discriminated spatial patterns of the rewarded and never-rewarded places were serially reversed, and thus, mice were accordingly expected to realign the previously acquired behavioral sequence. In general, the tested mice showed rapid acquisition of the behavioral sequencing task and behavioral flexibility in the subsequent serial reversal stages both in intra- and inter-session analyses. It was found that essentially the same results were obtained among three different laboratories, which confirm the high stability of the present test protocol in different strains of mice (C57BL/6, DBA/2, and ICR). In particular, the most trained cohort of C57BL/6 mice achieved a markedly rapid adaptation to the reversal task in the final phase of the long-term serial reversal test, which possibly indicated that the mice adapted to the "reversal rule" itself. In conclusion, the newly developed behavioral test was shown to be a valid assay of behavioral flexibility in mice, and is expected to be utilized in tests of mouse models of cognitive deficits.

The present study aimed to reveal possible morphological relationships between gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) nerve terminals and gap junctions in the median eminence. Coronal brain sections from castrated male rats were dual immunostained with GnRH and either connexin 26, 32, or 43, and examined by confocal laser microscopy. Connexin 43-immunoreactive puncta were distributed between GnRH-immunoreactive fibers, and some of them were colocalized with GnRH-immunoreactivities. Dual immunostaining with connexin 43 and glial fibrillary acidic protein revealed that most of the puncta were located in astrocytes. At the immunoelectron microscopic level, connexin 43-immunoreactivities were mainly located on the plasma membranes of glial-like processes. Few connexin 26- or connexin 32-immunoreactivities were found in the median eminence. The present results indicate the possibility that gap junctions play a role in the GnRH release at the median eminence.

The effect of serotonin synthesis inhibitor, p-chlorophenylalanine (PCPA), on induction and maintenance of pseudopregnancy as indicated by deciduoma formation was examined in female rats. Animals were injected with 1 mg/kg b.wt. of reserpine on the day of metestrus, and silk thread was passed through and placed in the left uterine horn 3 days after reserpine to induce deciduoma. PCPA (100 mg/kg b.wt.) was injected daily for 4 days before or after reserpine in 15 and 13 rats, respectively. A single injection of PCPA was administered before reserpine in nine females. In another group of rats (N = 16), instead of PCPA, saline was injected four times before reserpine. Nineteen female rats were treated with reserpine only as a control group. Results showed 89% of the control and 81.3% of the saline-treated females had massive deciduoma in traumatized uterine horn. In contrast, only 33.3% or 46.2% females with daily treatments of PCPA for 4 days before or after reserpine showed positive decidual reaction. In addition, 88.9% of females with single injection of PCPA possessed uterine horns with deciduoma. These results suggest that 4 days of treatment with PCPA eliminate induction and/or maintenance of pseudopregnancy. Thus, some levels of serotonin are required to induce and maintain pseudopregnancy.