Effect of acute stress on the expression of hypothalamic messenger ribonucleic acids encoding the endogenous opioid precursors preproenkephalin A and proopiomelanocortin

doi:10.1016/0196-9781(94)90030-2

Peptides

Volume 15, Issue 5, 1994, Pages 783-790

https://doi.org/10.1016/0196-9781(94)90030-2 Get rights and content

Abstract

In addition to the release of adenohypophysial hormones adrenocorticotropin and β-endorphin, most types of acute stress induce rapid release of prolactin (PRL) from the anterior pituitary lobe. Endogenous opioid peptides are believed to participate in the stress-induced PRL secretion via an action within the central nervous system. In the present study, we have investigated the effect of acute stress on anterior pituitary PRL secretion and the hypothalamic expression of messenger ribonucleic acids (mRNAs) encoding precursors of the endogenous opioids Met-enkephalin and β-endorphin. Adult male rats were subjected to 1 h of restraint and the stress-induced rise in plasma PRL was measured both during and after termination of the stress paradigm. Using quantitative in situ hybridization histochemistry, it was observed that levels of proenkephalin A mRNA increased significantly within the medial parvocellular subset of the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus, and within the arcuate nucleus levels of proopiomelanocortin (POMC) mRNA were slightly, but significantly, increased. The employed stress paradigm also induced an elevation of anterior pituitary levels of PRL and POMC mRNAs. The present data suggest that restraint stress activates gene expression of endogenous opioid systems in the hypothalamus and that the employed stress paradigm is of sufficient magnitude to stimulate both mRNA expression and release of PRL in the anterior pituitary lobe.

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ArticleEffect of acute stress on the expression of hypothalamic messenger ribonucleic acids encoding the endogenous opioid precursors preproenkephalin A and proopiomelanocortin

Abstract

Mol. Brain Res.

Neurosci. Lett.

J. Biol. Chem.

FEBS Lett.

Peptides

Neurosci. Lett.

Brain Res. Bull.

Brain Res.

Prog. Brain Res.

Mol. Cell. Neurosci.

Brain Res.

J. Biol. Chem.

Hypothalamic control of adrenocorticotropin secretion: Advances since the discovery of 41-residue corticotropin-releasing factor

Endocr. Rev.

Interrelationships of opioidergic and adrenergic mechanisms controlling the secretion of of corticotrophin-releasing factor in the rat

Neuroendocrinology

Glucocorticoid regulation of prenkephalin messenger ribonucleic acid in the rat striatum

Endocrinology

α-melanocyte-stimulating hormone: Reduction in adult rat brain after monosodium glutamate treatment of neonates

Science

Distribution of dynorphin and enkephalin peptides in the rat brain

J. Comp. Neurol.

Immunohistochemical localization of β-endorphin containing neurons in the rat brain

Neuroendocrinology

Location and characteriztion of opiate receptors regulating pituitary secretion

Nature

Responses of hypothalamic and pituitary mRNA to physical and psychological stress in the rat

Endocrinology

Stress responsiveness of hypothalamic corticotrophin-releasing factor and pituitary pro-opiomelanocortin mRNAs following high-dose glucocorticoid treatment and withdrawal in the rat

J. Endocrinol.

Immunoreactive ACTH/β-endorphin neurons in the tubero-infundibular hypothalamus of rats

Cell Tissue Res.

Stress-induced alterations in the levels of messenger RNA coding for proopiomelanocortin and prolactin in rat pituitary

Neuroendocrinology

Prolactin release induced by opiate agonists, effect of glucocorticoid pretreatment in intact and adrenalectomized rats

Neuroendocrinology

Efferent projections from the periventricular and medial parvicellular subnuclei of the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus to circumventricular organs of the rat. A Phaseolus vulgaris-leucoagglutinin (PHA-L) tracing study

J. Comp. Neurol.

Article
Effect of acute stress on the expression of hypothalamic messenger ribonucleic acids encoding the endogenous opioid precursors preproenkephalin A and proopiomelanocortin