Extreme tolerance to ammonia fumes in African naked mole-rats: animals that naturally lack neuropeptides from trigeminal chemosensory nerve fibers

Naked mole-rats (Heterocephalus glaber) naturally lack neuropeptides associated with the signaling of chemical irritants from C type trigeminal nerve fibers. The goal of the present study was to assess behavioral responses of these animals to stimulation of the trigeminal chemosensory system, and to determine if stimulation would increase post-synaptic activity in the trigeminal nucleus, as seen in laboratory mice and rats. The results show that naked mole-rats are behaviorally insensitive to capsaicin solution applied to the nostrils and to ammonia fumes in a behavioral avoidance test. Centrally, the number of c Fos labeled cells in the spinal trigeminal nucleus increased from exposure to ammonia although the magnitude of the increase was less than for rats. The increase observed in naked mole-rats likely reflects activity from glutamate release, which appears insufficient to drive pain and aversion behaviors. The results support the idea that neuropeptides in the C fibers of the trigeminal system may be required to signal the aversive quality of specific chemical irritants. The natural lack of neuropeptides in naked mole-rats may be an adaptation to living in a challenging subterranean environment with extremely high levels of ammonia and carbon dioxide, stimuli known to excite trigeminal chemosensory C fibers.     

Peptide signals regulating food intake and energy homeostasis

The adiposity hormone leptin has been shown to decrease food intake and body weight by acting on neuropeptide circuits in the hypothalamus. However, it is not clear how this primary hypothalamic action of leptin is translated into a change in food intake. We hypothesize that the behavioral effect of leptin ultimately involves the integration of neuronal responses in the forebrain with those in the nucleus tractus solitarius in the caudal brainstem, where ingestive behavior signals are received from the gastrointestinal system and the blood. One example is the peptide cholecystokinin, which is released from the gut following ingestion of a meal and acts via vagal afferent nerve fibers to activate medial nucleus tractus solitarius neurons and thereby decrease meal size. While it is established that leptin acts in the arcuate nucleus in the hypothalamus to stimulate anorexigenic neurons that inhibit food intake while simulataneously inhibiting orexigenic neurons that increase food intake, the mechanisms linking these effects with regions of the caudal brainstem that integrate cues related to meal termination are unclear. Based on an increasing body of supportive data, we hypothesize that this integration involves a pathway comprising descending projections from neurons from the paraventricular nucleus to neurons within the nucleus tractus solitarius that are activated by meal-related satiety factors. Leptin's anorexic effect comprises primarily decreased meal size, and at subthreshold doses for eliciting an effect on food intake, leptin intensifies the satiety response to circulating cholecystokinin. The location of neurons subserving the effects of intracerebroventricular administration of leptin and intraperitoneal injection of cholecystokinin on food intake has been identified by analysis of Fos expression. These studies reveal a distribution that includes the paraventricular nucleus and regions within the caudal brainstem, with the medial nucleus tractus solitarius having the most pronounced Fos expression in response to leptin and cholecystokinin, and support the hypothesis that the long-term adiposity signal leptin and the short-term satiety signal cholecystokinin act in concert to maintain body weight homeostasis.     

Selective Inflammatory Pain Insensitivity in the African Naked Mole-Rat (Heterocephalus glaber)

In all mammals, tissue inflammation leads to pain and behavioral sensitization to thermal and mechanical stimuli called hyperalgesia. We studied pain mechanisms in the African naked mole-rat, an unusual rodent species that lacks pain-related neuropeptides (e.g., substance P) in cutaneous sensory fibers. Naked mole-rats show a unique and remarkable lack of pain-related behaviors to two potent algogens, acid and capsaicin. Furthermore, when exposed to inflammatory insults or known mediators, naked mole-rats do not display thermal hyperalgesia. In contrast, naked mole-rats do display nocifensive behaviors in the formalin test and show mechanical hyperalgesia after inflammation. Using electrophysiology, we showed that primary afferent nociceptors in naked mole-rats are insensitive to acid stimuli, consistent with the animal's lack of acid-induced behavior. Acid transduction by sensory neurons is observed in birds, amphibians, and fish, which suggests that this tranduction mechanism has been selectively disabled in the naked mole-rat in the course of its evolution. In contrast, nociceptors do respond vigorously to capsaicin, and we also show that sensory neurons express a transient receptor potential vanilloid channel-1 ion channel that is capsaicin sensitive. Nevertheless, the activation of capsaicin-sensitive sensory neurons in naked mole-rats does not produce pain-related behavior. We show that capsaicin-sensitive nociceptors in the naked mole-rat are functionally connected to superficial dorsal horn neurons as in mice. However, the same nociceptors are also functionally connected to deep dorsal horn neurons, a connectivity that is rare in mice. The pain biology of the naked mole-rat is unique among mammals, thus the study of pain mechanisms in this unusual species can provide major insights into what constitutes “normal” mammalian nociception.     

Capsaicin and potassium evoked substance P release from the nucleus tractus solitarius and spinal trigeminal nucleus invitro

The nucleus tractus solitarius and the spinal trigeminal nucleus receive peripheral sensory input from substance P containing afferent nerves. This study demonstrates that $\text{in}$$\text{vitro}$ depolarization of these nuclei in tissue slices evokes a calcium-dependent efflux of substance P immunoreactivity. Capsaicin (33μM) also elicits substance P release from the nucleus tractus solitarius and spinal trigeminal nucleus but not from the hypothalamus. The occurrence of potassium-stimulated SP release from the two medullary nuclei fulfills one of the criteria for neurotransmitter status. The capsaicin data support the contention that this agent elicits release of substance P from nuclear regions receiving peripheral afferent information in substance P nerves independent of the particular sensory modality served but is ineffective in nonsensory areas.     

Selective inflammatory pain insensitivity in the African naked mole-rat (Heterocephalus glaber)

In all mammals, tissue inflammation leads to pain and behavioral sensitization to thermal and mechanical stimuli called hyperalgesia. We studied pain mechanisms in the African naked mole-rat, an unusual rodent species that lacks pain-related neuropeptides (e.g., substance P) in cutaneous sensory fibers. Naked mole-rats show a unique and remarkable lack of pain-related behaviors to two potent algogens, acid and capsaicin. Furthermore, when exposed to inflammatory insults or known mediators, naked mole-rats do not display thermal hyperalgesia. In contrast, naked mole-rats do display nocifensive behaviors in the formalin test and show mechanical hyperalgesia after inflammation. Using electrophysiology, we showed that primary afferent nociceptors in naked mole-rats are insensitive to acid stimuli, consistent with the animal's lack of acid-induced behavior. Acid transduction by sensory neurons is observed in birds, amphibians, and fish, which suggests that this tranduction mechanism has been selectively disabled in the naked mole-rat in the course of its evolution. In contrast, nociceptors do respond vigorously to capsaicin, and we also show that sensory neurons express a transient receptor potential vanilloid channel-1 ion channel that is capsaicin sensitive. Nevertheless, the activation of capsaicin-sensitive sensory neurons in naked mole-rats does not produce pain-related behavior. We show that capsaicin-sensitive nociceptors in the naked mole-rat are functionally connected to superficial dorsal horn neurons as in mice. However, the same nociceptors are also functionally connected to deep dorsal horn neurons, a connectivity that is rare in mice. The pain biology of the naked mole-rat is unique among mammals, thus the study of pain mechanisms in this unusual species can provide major insights into what constitutes “normal” mammalian nociception.     

Anorectic effect of calcitonin, neurotensin and bombesin infused in the area of the rostral part of the nucleus of the tractus solitarius in the rat

The three neuropeptides calcitonin, neurotensin and bombesin can decrease food intake in the rat when injected into the cerebral ventricles or into the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus. The paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus is an important site for the integration of visceral and endocrine systems, and has connections with the nucleus of the tractus solitarius which is a major locus for visceral afferents. Since calcitonin, neurotensin and bombesin, or their receptors, have been found to be present in the nucleus of the tractus solitarius, we tested the effects of local infusions of these peptides on food intake. The peptides were microinjected in a 0.25 microliter volume in rats trained to eat for only 3 hours per day. The injections were made in the rostral part of the nucleus and surrounding areas, through the lateral vestibular nuclei, to avoid leakage of the peptides into the cerebrospinal fluid. In the nucleus of the tractus solitarius the three peptides decreased food intake by more than 50%. The peptides were also active in the spinal trigeminal nucleus oralis, and, for calcitonin and bombesin, in the reticular formation under the nucleus of the tractus solitarius. A local diffusion from the point of injection may explain some of these results. Therefore, the area of the nucleus of the tractus solitarius is a nonhypothalamic site where these peptides can act to produce anorexia.     

PHOTIC INDUCTION OF Fos IN THE SUPRACHIASMATIC NUCLEUS OF AFRICAN MOLE-RATS: RESPONSES TO INCREASING IRRADIANCE

African mole-rats (family Bathyergidae) are strictly subterranean rodent species that are rarely exposed to environmental light. Morphological and physiological adaptations to the underground environment include a severely reduced eye size and regressed visual system. Responses of the circadian system to light, however, appear to be intact, since mole-rats are able to entrain their circadian activity rhythms to the light-dark cycle and light induces Fos expression in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN). Social organization varies from solitary species to highly elaborated eusocial structures, characterized by a distinct division of labor and in which one reproductive female regulates the behavior and reproductive physiology of other individuals in the colony. The authors studied light-induced Fos expression in the SCN to increasing light intensities in four mole-rat species, ranging from strictly solitary to highly social. In the solitary Cape mole-rat, light induces significant Fos expression in the SCN, and the number of Fos-immunopositive cells increases with increasing light intensity. In contrast, Fos induction in the SCN of social species was slightly greater than, but not statistically different from, the dark-control animals as is typical of most rodents. One species showed a trend for an increase in expression with increased light, whereas a second species showed no trend in expression. In the naked mole-rat, Fos expression appeared higher in the dark-controls than in the animals exposed to light, although the differences in Fos expression were not significant. These results suggest a gradient in the sensitivity of the circadian system to light in mole-rats, with a higher percentage of individuals that are unresponsive to light in correlation with the degree of sociality. In highly social species, such as the naked mole-rat that live in a relatively stable subterranean milieu in terms of food availability, temperature, constant darkness, and devoid of 24-h cyclic environmental cues, the temporal coordination of rest-wake activities may be dependent on social interactions and social status rather than on photic regulation of the circadian timing system. (Author correspondence: moosthuizen@zoology.up.ac.za)     

Perineal muscles and motoneurons are sexually monomorphic in the naked mole-rat (Heterocephalus glaber)

Naked mole-rats are eusocial mammals that live in colonies with a single breeding female and one to three breeding males. All other members of the colony, known as subordinates, are nonreproductive and exhibit few sex differences in behavior or genital anatomy. This raises questions about the degree of sexual differentiation in subordinate naked mole-rats. The striated perineal muscles associated with the phallus [the bulbocavernosus (BC), ischiocavernosus (IC), and levator ani (LA) muscles], and their innervating motoneurons, are sexually dimorphic in all rodents examined to date. We therefore asked whether perineal muscles and motoneurons were also sexually dimorphic in subordinate naked mole-rats. Muscles similar to the LA and IC of other rodents were found in naked mole-rats of both sexes. No clear BC muscle was identified, although a large striated muscle associated with the urethra in male and female naked mole-rats may be homologous to the BC of other rodents. There were no sex differences in the volumes of the LA, IC, or the urethral muscles. Motoneurons innervating the perineal muscles were identified by retrograde labeling with cholera-toxin-conjugated horseradish peroxidase. All perineal motoneurons were found in a single cluster in the ventrolateral lateral horn, in a position similar to that of Onuf's nucleus of carnivores and primates. There was no sex difference in the size or number of motoneurons in Onuf's nucleus of naked mole-rats. Thus, unlike findings in any other mammal, neither the perineal muscles nor the perineal motoneurons appear to be sexually differentiated in subordinate naked mole-rats.     

Sources of ascending afferent projections to the midbrain central tegmental area and centrum medianum thalami in cats

After microinjections of horseradish peroxidase into the central tegmental area of the midbrain and centrum medianum thalami in cats, labeled neurons were found in the nucleus of the tractus solitarius, gracile and cuneate nuclei, spinal nuclei of the trigeminal nerve, the external nucleus and nucleus of the brachium of the inferior colliculus, the medial pretectal region, nucleus of the posterior commissure and stratum intermediale of the superior colliculus, and reticular structures of the medulla and pons. Comparison of the location of the sources of ascending afferent projections in the central tegmental area of the midbrain and centrum medianum thalami showed that the reticular formation receives mainly visceral projections through the nucleus of the tractus solitarius, whereas the centrum medianum thalami is innervated mainly by the system of sensory somatic nuclei.I. P. Pavlov Institute of Physiology, Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Leningrad. Translated from Neirofiziologiya, Vol. 14, No. 2, pp. 172–178, March–April, 1982.     

Anatomical relationship between neuropeptide-containing fibers and efferent vagal neurons projecting to the rat corpus.

Injections of the retrograde tracers into the posterior surface of the stomach at the greater curvature resulted in labelling of the right half of the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus. Whereas injections into the anterior and posterior surfaces of the corpus resulted in bilateral labelling in the medulla. Immunocytochemical staining of the labelled sections using antisera to substance P was confined to a dense network of fibers within the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus and the nucleus tractus solitarius with no cell bodies being detected. Calcitonin gene-related peptide-immunoreactivity was detected in nerve fibers in the nucleus tractus solitarius and cell bodies of the hypoglossal nucleus. Finally, neuropeptide Y-immunoreactivity was confined to nerve fibers within the vagal complex. Of the neurons labelled by the retrograde tracers injected into the corpus all were in close spatial contact with fibers containing substance P-immunoreactivity. A smaller number were associated with neuropeptide Y-containing fibers with a few adjacent to calcitonin gene-related peptide-immunoreactive fibers. These results indicate that substance P and neuropeptide Y may directly regulate efferent neurons controlling gastric motility and acid secretion. Calcitonin gene-related peptide, however, is unlikely to directly modulate the cell bodies of the neurons in the dorsal motor nucleus but may modulate the dendrites from these neurons in the nucleus tractus solitarius.     

Vagal-Central Nervous System Interactions Modulate the Feeding Response to Peripheral Enterostatin

Enterostatin selectively inhibits the intake of dietary fat after both peripheral and central administration. We have investigated the role of the hepatic vagus nerve in modulating the peripheral response to enterostatin in Sprague-Dawley rats adapted to a high fat (HF) diet. Intraperitoneal (ip) enterostatin reduced intake of HF diet after overnight starvation. This response was abolished by selective vagal hepatic branch transection. Immunohistochemical techniques were used to identify the location of Fos protein in brain nuclei after ip enterostatin. Fos protein was evident in the nucleus tractus solitarius (NTS), parabrachial, paraventricular and supraoptic nuclei. The pattern of expression of Fos-like immunoreactivity differed from that induced by the lipoprivic agent β-mercaptoacetate. Transection of the hepatic vagus blocked the central Fos responses to ip enterostatin. We conclude that afferent hepatic vagal nerve activity is required for the feeding response to peripheral enterostatin.     

两种非甾体类抗炎药对清醒状态血管源性头痛模型大鼠颅内Fos表达的影响

目的通过观察血管源性头痛清醒动物模型中Fos阳性细胞在三叉神经节及三叉神经脊束核尾侧亚核的分布情况,明确两种非甾体类抗炎药NSAID对乙酰氨基酚及布洛芬在头痛控制中,在颅内特定区域的作用机理。方法 30只雄性SD大鼠随机分为对照组(生理盐水组)、对乙酰氨基酚组、布洛芬组,每组给药后50 min分别给予频率为20 Hz、电流为3~5 mA和脉宽为0.25 ms的电刺激,刺激后给予大鼠灌注固定取脑,分别在颅内取三叉神经节及三叉神经脊束核尾侧亚核制作石蜡切片,进行免疫组织化学染色,利用Image J软件对阳性细胞进行计数统计。结果电刺激后盐水组与非甾体类药物组在双侧三叉神经节、三叉神经脊束核尾侧亚核Fos蛋白表达的差异具有显著统计学意义,对乙酰氨基酚组与布洛芬组在双侧三叉神经节、三叉神经脊束核尾侧亚核Fos蛋白表达未见统计学差异。结论给予非甾体类抗炎前后在双侧三叉神经节、三叉神经脊束核尾侧亚核的Fos表达的改变提示三叉神经节、三叉神经脊束核尾侧亚核参与了疼痛的传递和表达以及药物对疼痛控制的药理过程。     

Effect of progesterone on the activation of neurones of the supraoptic nucleus during parturition

Parturition is driven by a pulsatile pattern of oxytocin secretion, resulting from burst firing activity of supraoptic oxytocin neurones and reflected by induction of Fos expression. Rats were injected with progesterone on day 20 of pregnancy to investigate the role of the decreasing progesterone:ratio oestrogen ratio, which precedes delivery, in the activation of supraoptic neurones. Progesterone delayed the onset of birth by 28 h compared with vehicle (control) and prolonged the duration of delivery, which was overcome by pulsatile injections of oxytocin, indicating that the slow delivery may reflect impaired oxytocin secretion. Parturient rats pretreated with progesterone had fewer Fos immunoreactive nuclei in the supraoptic nucleus than did parturient rats pretreated with vehicle. The number of Fos immunoreactive nuclei was not restored after oxytocin injection, indicating that appropriate activation of oxytocin neurones is impaired by progesterone and also that there is a lack of stimulatory afferent drive. Fos expression increased in the nucleus of the tractus solitarius during parturition in rats pretreated with either vehicle or progesterone, but not in rats that had been pretreated with progesterone and induced with oxytocin, indicating that this input was inhibited. Endogenous opioids inhibit oxytocin neurones in late pregnancy and the opioid antagonist, naloxone, increases Fos expression in supraoptic nuclei by preventing inhibition. However, progesterone attenuated naloxone-induced Fos expression in the supraoptic nucleus in late pregnancy and naloxone administered during parturition did not accelerate the duration of births delayed by progesterone administration, indicating that progesterone does not act by hyperactivation of endogenous opioid tone. RU486, a progesterone receptor antagonist, enhanced supraoptic neurone Fos expression in late pregnancy, indicating progesterone receptor-mediated actions. Thus, progesterone withdrawal is necessary for appropriate activation of supraoptic and tractus solitarius neurones during parturition.     

肾缺血引起大鼠儿茶酚胺神经元Fos表达

实验应用Fos蛋白和酪氨酸羟化酶（tyrosine hydroxylase,TH）的双重免疫组化方法,观察肾脏动脉阻断（renal artery occlusion,RAO）是否激活脑干中核团的儿荷酚胺能神经元。所得结果如下：（1）脑干中Fos样蛋白的基础性表达低;RAO可诱发孤束核（nucleus tractus solitarius,NTS）、最后区（area postrema,AP）、巨细胞旁外侧核（paragi-gantocellularis lateralis,PGL）和蓝斑（locus coeruleus,LC）核团中许多神经元显示Fos样免疫反应（Fos-like immunoreactivi-ty,FLI）。（2）NTS、AP、PGL和LC核团中含有较多的儿茶酚胺能神经元;RAO能激活其中的部分儿荷酚胺能神经元。（3）腺苷受体阻断剂8－苯茶碱可明显减弱RAO所致的上述效应。以上结果表明,肾脏短暂缺血能激活脑干内的一些神经核团以及其中的部分儿荷酚胺能神经元。此效应可能是肾缺血时腺苷释放作用于肾内腺苷受体后引起肾传入神经活动增加的结果。     

Central projection of the sensory fibres of the recurrent laryngeal nerve of the cat.

There have been few studies of the central projection of the sensory fibres of the recurrent laryngeal nerve into the medulla oblongata. In the present study terminal degeneration was observed in both the nucleus of the tractus solitarius and the nucleus of the spinal tract of the trigeminal nerve after transection of the nerve and after injection of a lectin, Ricinus communis agglutinin (RCA). Degeneration was observed to be more extensive after RCA injection than after nerve transection. In both instances, however, degeneration was observed bilaterally.     

Ozone inhalation activates stress-responsive regions of the CNS

Ozone (O(3)), a major component of air pollution, has considerable impact on public health. Besides the well-described respiratory tract inflammation and dysfunctions, there is accumulating evidence indicating that O(3) exposure affects brain functions. However, the mechanisms through which O(3) exerts toxic effects on the brain remain poorly understood. This work aimed at precisely characterizing CNS neuronal activation after O(3) inhalation using Fos staining in adult rat. We showed that, together with lung inflammation, O(3) exposure caused a sustained time- and dose-dependent neuronal activation in the dorsolateral regions of the nucleus tractus solitarius overlapping terminal fields of lung afferents running in vagus nerves. Furthermore, we highlighted neuronal activation in interconnected central structures such as the caudal ventrolateral medulla, the parabrachial nucleus, the central nucleus of the amygdala, the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis and the paraventricular hypothalamic nucleus. In contrast, we did not detect any neuronal activation in the thoracic spinal cord where lung afferents running in spinal nerves terminate. Overall, our results demonstrate that O(3) challenge evokes a lung inflammation that induces the activation of nucleus tractus solitarius neurons through the vagus nerves and promotes neuronal activation in stress-responsive regions of the CNS.     

Substance P binding sites in the nucleus tractus solitarius of the cat

Substance P binding sites in the nucleus tractus solitarius were visualized with receptor autoradiography using Bolton-Hunter [¹²⁵I]substance P. Substance P binding sites were found to have distinct patterns within the cat nucleus tractus solitarius. The majority of substance P binding sites were present in the medial, intermediate and the peripheral rim of the parvocellular subdivisions. Lower amounts of substance P binding sites were present in the commissural, ventrolateral, interstitial and dorsolateral subdivisions. No substance P binding sites were present in the central region of the parvocellular subdivision or the solitary tract. The localization of substance P binding sites in the nucleus tractus solitarius is very similar to the patterns of substance P immunoreactive fibers previously described for this region. Results of this study add further support for a functional role of substance P in synaptic circuits of the nucleus tractus solitarius.     

Noradrenergic alpha 2 binding sites in vagal dorsal motor nucleus and nucleus tractus solitarius: autoradiographic localization

The distribution in the canine medulla oblongata of binding sites for p-[3H]aminoclonidine, a ligand specific for alpha 2-adrenergic receptors, was studied with light microscopic autoradiographic methods. Specific labelling was determined using unlabelled phentolamine as a displacer. The greatest density of sites was localized in the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus nerve, the area postrema, and in several regions of the nucleus tractus solitarius. Less dense binding of the radioligand was also seen in the inferior olivary nucleus. Dorsomedial regions of the nucleus tractus solitarius were the most densely labelled in this nucleus, and dorsolateral and ventral regions were much less densely labelled. The region of the nucleus tractus solitarius shown in this study to be heavily labelled with alpha 2-adrenergic binding sites has been implicated in the autonomic control of blood pressure. The dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus, together with the nucleus tractus solitarius, may thus represent the site of the antihypertensive action of the drug clonidine, an alpha 2-adrenoreceptor agonist.     

Water deprivation increases Fos expression in hypothalamic corticotropin-releasing factor neurons induced by right atrial distension in awake rats

Atrial mechanoreceptors, sensitive to stretch, contribute in regulating heart rate and intravascular volume. The information from those receptors reaches the nucleus tractus solitarius and then the paraventricular nucleus (PVN), known to have a crucial role in the regulation of cardiovascular function. Neurons in the PVN synthesize CRF, AVP, and oxytocin (OT). Stimulation of atrial mechanoreceptors was performed in awake rats implanted with a balloon at the junction of the superior vena cava and right atrium. Plasma ACTH, AVP, and OT concentrations and Fos, CRF, AVP, and OT immunolabeling in the PVN were determined after balloon inflation in hydrated and water-deprived rats. The distension of the balloon increased the plasma ACTH concentrations, which were higher in water-deprived than in hydrated rats (P < 0.05). In addition, the distension in the water-deprived group decreased plasma AVP concentrations (P < 0.05), compared with the respective control group. The distension increased the number of Fos- and double-labeled Fos/CRF neurons in the parvocellular PVN, which was higher in the water-deprived than in the hydrated group (P < 0.01). There was no difference in the Fos expression in magnocellular PVN neurons after distension in hydrated and water-deprived groups, compared with respective controls. In conclusion, parvocellular CRF neurons showed an increase of Fos expression induced by stimulation of right atrial mechanoreceptors, suggesting that CRF participates in the cardiovascular reflex adjustments elicited by volume loading. Activation of CRF neurons in the PVN by cardiovascular reflex is affected by osmotic stimulation.