Sitagliptin decreases ventricular arrhythmias by attenuated glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP)-dependent resistin signalling in infarcted rats

Myocardial infarction (MI) was associated with insulin resistance, in which resistin acts as a critical mediator. We aimed to determine whether sitagliptin, a dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitor, can attenuate arrhythmias by regulating resistin-dependent nerve growth factor (NGF) expression in postinfarcted rats. Normoglycaemic male Wistar rats after ligating coronary artery were randomized to either vehicle or sitagliptin for 4 weeks starting 24 h after operation. Post-infarction was associated with increased myocardial noradrenaline [norepinephrine (NE)] levels and sympathetic hyperinnervation. Compared with vehicle, sympathetic innervation was blunted after administering sitagliptin, as assessed by immunofluorescent analysis of tyrosine hydroxylase, growth-associated factor 43 and neurofilament and western blotting and real-time quantitative RT-PCR of NGF. Arrhythmic scores in the sitagliptin-treated infarcted rats were significantly lower than those in vehicle. Furthermore, sitagliptin was associated with reduced resistin expression and increased Akt activity. Ex vivo studies showed that glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) infusion, but not glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), produced similar reduction in resistin levels to sitagliptin in postinfarcted rats. Furthermore, the attenuated effects of sitagliptin on NGF levels can be reversed by wortmannin (a phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase antagonist) and exogenous resistin infusion. Sitagliptin protects ventricular arrhythmias by attenuating sympathetic innervation in the non-diabetic infarcted rats. Sitagliptin attenuated resistin expression via the GIP-dependent pathway, which inhibited sympathetic innervation through a signalling pathway involving phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) and Akt protein.     

L'innervation monoaminergique de l'Eminence Médiane — Etude radioautographique et pharmacologique chez le CanardAnas platyrhynchos

Résumé Dans l'Eminence Médiane du Canard, la Noradrénaline et la Dopamine tritiées sont captées et retenues auniveau de la zone interne et en périphérie des vaisseaux portes hypophysaires. Cette rétention, observée par radioautographie après incubation in-vitro ou injection intraventriculaire des médiateurs, est considérablement diminuée par la réserpine. Une ou deux injections intraventriculaires de 6-Hydroxy-Dopamine laissent subsister quelques fibres capables de capter la Noradrénaline-³H. Après trois injections de 6-Hydroxy-Dopamine, on n'observe plus aucune incorporation du médiateur.Ces données radioautographiques et pharmacologiques attestent que les fibres de la zone interne de l'Eminence Médiane, qui captent la Noradrénaline et ses précurseurs et qui sont détruites par la 6-Hydroxy-Dopamine, sont de nature catécholaminergique.En microscopie électronique, on constate que les fibres marquées contiennent des vésicules de types divers avec fréquemment un coeur dense excentré. Ces fibres présentent des contacts synaptiques avec des dendrites ou péricaryons neuronaux qui ne retiennent pas le traceur et qui reçoivent également d'autres afférences synaptiques non marquées. Ce fait permet d'établir que les neurones infundibulaires présents dans l'Eminence Médiane sont susceptibles d'une régulation mettant en jeu des catécholamines et d'autres types de neurotransmetteurs.

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Monoaminergic innervation of the median eminence—Radioautographic and pharmacological study in the duck,Anas platyrhynchos I. Catecholaminergic innervation

Summary When³H-norepinephrine or³H-dopamine are given to the median eminence of the Duck after an injection into the IIIrd ventricle or afterin vitro incubation, an intense and preferential accumulation of the tracer is observed in the internal zone and in the vicinity of the primary portal vessels.The amount of labeled catecholamines in the median eminence is greatly diminished by reserpine. After one or two injections of 6-hydroxy-dopamine into the third ventricle followed by application of³H-norepinephrine, only a few fibers are labeled; after three injections of this drug, nearly no uptake of³H-norepinephrine is seen.This radioautographic and pharmacological approach indicates that the axons of the internal zone of the median eminence, which are able to take up and store labeled norepinephrine and its precursors and which are destroyed by 6-hydroxy-dopamine, are catecholaminergic.The ultrastructural examination of the internal zone shows that the label is confined to axonal varicosities containing various types of vesicles possessing frequently an eccentric core. The labeled axonal varicosities were found in synaptic contact with unlabeled dendrites and also with unlabeled perikarya. The postsynaptic structures which receive labeled presynaptic axons display also synaptic contacts with other unlabeled axons. This fact suggests that neurons of the median eminence are probably modulated by catecholamines and other neurotransmitters either on their dendrites and even on their soma.

Avec la collaboration de Melle. S. Bosc.     

Synaptic transmission is impaired at neuronal autonomic synapses in agrin-null mice

Neuronal synapse formation is a multistep process regulated by several pre- and postsynaptic adhesion and signaling proteins. Recently, we found that agrin acts as one such synaptogenic factor at neuronal synapses in the PNS by demonstrating that structural synapse formation is impaired in the superior cervical ganglia (SCG) of z+ agrin-deficient mice and in SCG cultures derived from those animals. Here, we tested whether synaptic function is defective in agrin-null (AGD-/-) ganglia and began to define agrin's mechanism of action. Our electrophysiological recordings of compound action potentials showed that presynaptic stimulation evoked action potentials in approximately 40% of AGD-/- ganglionic neurons compared to 90% of wild-type neurons; moreover, transmission could not be potentiated as in wild-type or z+ agrin-deficient ganglia. Intracellular recordings also showed that nerve-evoked excitatory postsynaptic potentials in AGD-/- neurons were only 1/3 the size of those in wild-type neurons and mostly subthreshold. Consistent with these defects in transmission, we found an approximately 40-50% decrease in synapse number in AGD-/- ganglia and cultures, and decreased levels of differentiation at the residual synapses in culture. Furthermore, surface levels of acetylcholine receptors (AChRs) were equivalent in cultured AGD-/- and wild-type neurons, and depolarization reduced the synaptic localization of AChRs in AGD-/- but not wild-type neurons. These findings provide the first direct demonstration that agrin is required for proper structural and functional development of an interneuronal synapse in vivo. Moreover, they suggest a novel role for agrin, in stabilizing the postsynaptic density of nAChR at nascent neuronal synapses.     

Ciliary neurotrophic factor stimulates tyrosine hydroxylase activity

Tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) is the rate-limiting enzyme in norepinephrine synthesis, and its expression and activity are regulated by many factors in sympathetic neurons. Cytokines that act through gp130, such as ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) decrease norepinephrine production in sympathetic neurons by suppressing TH mRNA and stimulating degradation of TH protein, leading to the loss of enzyme. Their effect on the activity of TH is unclear, but recent in vivo observations suggest that cytokines may stimulate TH activity. We investigated this issue by quantifying TH protein levels and activity in cultured sympathetic neurons. We also examined the state of TH phosphorylation on serine 31 and 40, sites known to affect TH activity and degradation. We found that CNTF, acting through gp130, stimulated the rate of l-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine production while at the same time decreasing TH enzyme levels, thereby increasing the specific activity of the enzyme. We also found that phosphorylation of TH on Ser31 was increased, and phosphorylation on Ser40 was decreased, after four days of CNTF exposure. Our data are consistent with previous findings that Ser31 phosphorylation stimulates TH activity, whereas Ser40 phosphorylation can target TH for proteasomal degradation.     

神经递质转运蛋白在应激性心肌病发病中的潜在作用

应激性心肌病是强烈应激诱发的心血管急症,自20世纪90年代初Dote首次报告后,世界各地临床报告病例逐年攀升。发病机制迄今尚不完全清楚,但交感神经过度激活,大量释放去甲肾上腺素在本病发生中起重要作用。根据相关研究进展,主要综述神经递质转运蛋白调控神经递质及交感神经活性在这一神经源性心脏病中可能发挥的重要作用。     

Dual regulation by ethanol of the inhibitory effects of ketamine on spinal NMDA-induced pressor responses in rats

Background  

Acute exposure of ethanol (alcohol) inhibits NMDA receptor function. Our previous study showed that acute ethanol inhibited the pressor responses induced by NMDA applied intrathecally; however, prolonged ethanol exposure may increase the levels of phosphorylated NMDA receptor subunits leading to changes in ethanol inhibitory potency on NMDA-induced responses. The present study was carried out to examine whether acute ethanol exposure influences the effects of ketamine, a noncompetitive NMDA receptor antagonist, on spinal NMDA-induced pressor responses.     

The association of crustacean cardioactive peptide with the spermatheca of the African migratory locust, Locusta migratoria

Crustacean cardioactive peptide (CCAP)-like immunoreactivity was identified in neurons of the VIIIth abdominal ganglion and in axons in the nerves that project to the spermatheca of 3-4 week old adult female locusts. In addition, lightly stained CCAP-like immunoreactive processes were localized over the spermathecae. The amount of CCAP in the spermathecal tissue was quantified using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) performed on extracts of the whole spermatheca, and on its constituent parts, namely the sperm sac, coiled duct and straight duct. The spermatheca contains 920+/-273 fmol (mean+/-SE) of CCAP equivalents, with the majority localized in the coiled duct. There are age-related differences in the amount of CCAP present in the spermathecae with less content in spermathecae from 1 to 5 day old and greater content in spermathecae from 3 to 4 week old adults. There was also no difference in CCAP content of spermathecae in mated and virgin 3 to 4 week old adults. Reversed phase-high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) followed by ELISA further confirmed the presence of CCAP-like material in extracts of locust spermathecae. Physiological assays demonstrated that CCAP increased the basal tonus and frequency of spontaneous contractions of the spermatheca, with thresholds between 10(-10) and 10(-9)M and maxima at 10(-7)M CCAP. CCAP also increases the amplitude of neurally evoked contractions with a threshold less than 10(-11)M and a maximum of 10(-7)M CCAP. The present study suggests that CCAP acts as a neuromodulator/neurotransmitter at the spermathecal visceral tissue of female Locusta migratoria.     

颈交感神经阻滞对严重烧伤大鼠肾脏的保护作用及其机制研究

目的:观察颈交感神经阻滞(CSB)对严重烧伤大鼠肾脏的保护作用,并对其可能机制进行初步探讨。方法:制作放烧严重烧伤伤大鼠大鼠模型,在伤后即刻及连续4天内进行双侧颈交感神经阻滞,观察生命体征、肾功能指标、肾脏组织学改变、血流灌注、抗氧化能力、肾组织Bcl-2表达改变。结果:经过颈交感神经阻滞处理后,伤后各时相点动物肾功能均较对照组为好,组织学病变减轻,器官血流量下降幅度减小,总抗氧化能力好于对照组,免疫组化显示CSB组肾组织中Bcl-2的表达较严重烧伤组明显增高。结论:颈交感神经阻滞可改善严重烧伤大鼠肾脏血液灌注,增强抗氧化能力,预防伤后肾脏功能损害。     

The pregenital abdominal musculature in phasmids and its implications for the basal phylogeny of Phasmatodea (Insecta: Polyneoptera)

Recently several conflicting hypotheses concerning the basal phylogenetic relationships within the Phasmatodea (stick and leaf insects) have emerged. In previous studies, musculature of the abdomen proved to be quite informative for identifying basal taxa among Phasmatodea and led to conclusions regarding the basal splitting events within the group. However, this character complex was not studied thoroughly for a representative number of species, and usually muscle innervation was omitted. In the present study the musculature and nerve topography of mid-abdominal segments in both sexes of seven phasmid species are described and compared in detail for the first time including all putative basal taxa, e.g. members of Timema, Agathemera, Phylliinae, Aschiphasmatinae and Heteropteryginae. The ground pattern of the muscle and nerve arrangement of mid-abdominal segments, i.e. of those not modified due to association with the thorax or genitalia, is reconstructed. In Timema, the inner ventral longitudinal muscles are present, whereas they are lost in all remaining Phasmatodea (Euphasmatodea). The ventral longitudinal muscles in the abdomen of Agathemera, which span the whole length of each segment, do not represent the plesiomorphic condition as previously assumed, but might be a result of secondary elongation of the external ventral longitudinal muscles. Sexual dimorphism, common within the Phasmatodea, also applies to the muscle arrangement in the abdomen of some species. Only in the females of Haaniella dehaanii (Heteropteryginae) and Phyllium celebicum (Phylliinae) the ventral external longitudinal muscles are elongated and span the length of the whole segment, possibly as a result of convergent evolution.