Evidence of melanin-concentrating hormone-containing neurons supplying both cortical and neuroendocrine projections

In the rat, melanin-concentrating hormone–containing projections are detected in the median eminence and in the neural lobe of the pituitary. After vascular injections of the retrograde tracers fluorogold or fastblue, melanin-concentrating hormone neurons are retrogradely labeled in the rostromedial...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Neuroscience 2003-01, Vol.116 (1), p.31-35
Main Authors: Cvetkovic, V., Brischoux, F., Griffond, B., Bernard, G., Jacquemard, C., Fellmann, D., Risold, P.-Y.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Afferent Pathways - anatomy & histology
Animals
Cerebral Cortex - anatomy & histology
Hypothalamus - anatomy & histology
Hypothalamus - chemistry
Immunohistochemistry
Male
Melanins - analysis
Neurons - chemistry
Pituitary Gland - anatomy & histology
Rats
Rats, Sprague-Dawley
Subthalamus - anatomy & histology
Subthalamus - chemistry
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Summary:In the rat, melanin-concentrating hormone–containing projections are detected in the median eminence and in the neural lobe of the pituitary. After vascular injections of the retrograde tracers fluorogold or fastblue, melanin-concentrating hormone neurons are retrogradely labeled in the rostromedial zona incerta and adjacent perifornical region. These neurons may be the source of the melanin-concentrating hormone projections toward the median eminence and posterior pituitary, and may release their secretory products into the bloodstream. After fastblue injections in the cerebral cortex and vascular fluorogold injections, some melaninconcentrating hormone neurons contain both tracers, indicating that they send collaterals in the cerebral cortex and in the median eminence/posterior pituitary. No such collaterals have been described for the classical neuroendocrine systems. The melanin-concentrating hormone system is thought to play a role in arousal in correlation with specific goal oriented behaviors such as feeding or reproduction. Some MCH neurons may be involved in such functions by modulating directly cortical activity as well as being neuroendocrine.
ISSN:0306-4522
1873-7544
DOI:10.1016/S0306-4522(02)00557-2