Chronic high prolactin levels impact on gene expression at discrete hypothalamic nuclei involved in food intake.

To study the pathological effects of continuous hyperprolactinemia on food intake mechanisms we used female mice that lack dopamine D2 receptors in lactotropes (lacDrd2KO). These mice had lifelong hyperprolactinemia, increased food intake, and gradual development of obesity from 5 to 10 months of age. Ongoing endogenous prolactin signaling in lacDrd2KO mice was evidenced by increased basal phosphorylation of STAT5b in hypothalamic areas related to food intake, such as the arcuate (ARN), dorsomedial (DMN), and ventromedial nuclei. In the ARN of young lacDrd2KO mice there were higher Prlr mRNA levels and in obese 10-month-old lacDrd2KO mice increased expression of the orexigenic genes Neuropeptide Y (Npy) and Agouti-related peptide, compared to controls. Furthermore, Npy expression was increased in the DMN, probably contributing to increased food intake and decreased expression of Uncoupling protein-1 in brown adipose tissue, both events favoring weight gain. Leptin resistance in obese lacD2RKO mice was evidenced by its failure to lower food intake and a dampened response of STAT3 phosphorylation, specifically in the mediobasal hypothalamus. Our results suggest that pathological chronically high prolactin levels, as found in psychiatric treatments or patients with prolactinomas, may impact on specific hypothalamic nuclei altering gene expression, leptin response, and food intake.

Impaired hypothalamic leptin sensitivity in pseudopregnant rats treated with chronic prolactin to mimic pregnancy.

Pregnancy in rodents is associated with hyperphagia, increased fat deposition, elevated leptin concentrations and insensitivity to the satiety action of leptin. To investigate the hormonal mechanisms involved in the development of this state of pregnancy-induced leptin resistance, we have used a pseudopregnancy rat model. We have previously demonstrated that pseudopregnant rats have a normal feeding response to leptin, although, if pseudopregnancy is extended using chronic i.c.v. ovine prolactin infusion along with progesterone implants, then leptin no longer suppresses food intake. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of chronically high lactogen levels, as seen in mid-pregnancy, on leptin-induced activation of hypothalamic Janus kinase/signal transducer and activator of transcription (JAK/STAT) signal transduction and mRNA expression of leptin (LepR-B) and prolactin (Prlr-L) receptors, using pseudopregnant rats chronically infused with ovine prolactin. Groups of virgin (dioestrous) and pseudopregnant rats were treated with chronic i.c.v. infusion of either prolactin (2.5 µg µL-1  h-1 for 5 days) or vehicle (artificial cerebrospinal fluid [aCSF]) via a minipump connected to a cannula surgically implanted into the lateral ventricle. Rats were fasted overnight and then received an i.c.v. injection of leptin (400 ng) or vehicle (aCSF) and were perfused 30 minutes later. In chronic vehicle-infused pseudopregnant rats, i.c.v. leptin increased the number of phosphorylated STAT3 positive cells in the arcuate nucleus and ventromedial nucleus (VMH) of the hypothalamus, similar to all acute-leptin treated virgin groups. This effect of leptin, however, was not observed in the pseudopregnant rats that were chronically infused with prolactin. A quantitative polymerase chain reaction analysis also showed decreased expression of LepR-B in the arcuate and VMH nuclei, as well as decreased Prlr-L in the arcuate nucleus of prolactin-infused "extended pseudopregnancy" rats. These data suggest that the attenuation of the leptin-induced suppression of food intake caused by chronically high lactogen levels in pseudopregnant rats is associated with impaired leptin-induced activation of the JAK/STAT pathway in specific hypothalamic nuclei.

Conditional Deletion of the Prolactin Receptor Reveals Functional Subpopulations of Dopamine Neurons in the Arcuate Nucleus of the Hypothalamus.

UNLABELLED: Tuberoinfundibular dopamine (TIDA) neurons, known as neuroendocrine regulators of prolactin secretion from the pituitary gland, also release GABA within the hypothalamic arcuate nucleus. As these neurons express prolactin receptors (Prlr), prolactin may regulate GABA secretion from TIDA neurons, potentially mediating actions of prolactin on hypothalamic function. To investigate whether GABA is involved in feedback regulation of TIDA neurons, we examined the physiological consequences of conditional deletion of Prlr in GABAergic neurons. For comparison, we also examined mice in which Prlr were deleted from most forebrain neurons. Both neuron-specific and GABA-specific recombination of the Prlr gene occurred throughout the hypothalamus and in some extrahypothalamic regions, consistent with the known distribution of Prlr expression, indicative of knock-out of Prlr. This was confirmed by a significant loss of prolactin-induced phosphorylation of STAT5, a marker of prolactin action. Several populations of GABAergic neurons that were not previously known to be prolactin-sensitive, notably in the medial amygdala, were identified. Approximately 50% of dopamine neurons within the arcuate nucleus were labeled with a GABA-specific reporter, but Prlr deletion from these dopamine/GABA neurons had no effect on feedback regulation of prolactin secretion. In contrast, Prlr deletion from all dopamine neurons resulted in profound hyperprolactinemia. The absence of coexpression of tyrosine hydroxylase, a marker for dopamine production, in GABAergic nerve terminals in the median eminence suggested that rather than a functional redundancy within the TIDA population, the dopamine/GABA neurons in the arcuate nucleus represent a subpopulation with a functional role distinct from the regulation of prolactin secretion. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: Using a novel conditional deletion of the prolactin receptor, we have identified functional subpopulations in hypothalamic dopamine neurons. Although commonly considered a uniform population of neuroendocrine neurons involved in the control of prolactin secretion, we have shown that approximately half of these neurons express GABA as well as dopamine, but these neurons are not necessary for the feedback regulation of prolactin secretion. The absence of tyrosine hydroxylase in GABAergic nerve terminals in the median eminence suggests that only the non-GABAergic dopamine neurons are involved in the control of pituitary prolactin secretion, and the GABAergic subpopulation may function as interneurons within the arcuate nucleus to regulate other aspects of hypothalamic function.

Prolactin transport into mouse brain is independent of prolactin receptor.

The anterior pituitary hormone prolactin exerts important physiologic actions in the brain. However, the mechanism by which prolactin crosses the blood-brain barrier and enters the brain is not completely understood. On the basis of high expression of the prolactin receptor in the choroid plexus, it has been hypothesized that the receptor may bind to prolactin in the blood and translocate it into the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). This study aimed to test this hypothesis by investigating transport of (125)I-labeled prolactin ((125)I-prolactin) into the brain of female mice in the presence and absence of the prolactin receptor (PRLR(-/-)). Peripherally administered prolactin rapidly activates brain neurons, as evidenced by prolactin-induced phosphorylation of signal transducer and activator of transcription 5 (pSTAT5) in neurons within 30 min of administration. The transport of prolactin into the brain was saturable, with transport effectively blocked only by a very high dose of unlabeled ovine prolactin. Transport was regulated, as in lactating mice with chronically elevated levels of prolactin, the rate of (125)I-prolactin transport into the brain was significantly increased compared to nonlactating controls. There was no change in the rate of (125)I-prolactin transport into the brain in PRLR(-/-) mice lacking functional prolactin receptors compared to control mice, indicating transport is independent of the prolactin receptor. These data suggest that prolactin transport into the brain involves another as yet unidentified transporter molecule. Because CSF levels of (125)I-prolactin were very low, even up to 90 min after administration, the data suggest that CSF is not the major route by which blood prolactin gains access to neurons in the brain.

Characterization of catecholamine release from deer adrenal medullary chromaffin cells.

Isolated adrenal medullary chromaffin cells maintained in culture have been widely used to study neurosecretory events. Many of these studies have been conducted using cells obtained from the bovine adrenal. In this study we have cultured chromaffin cells from an alternative large animal model, the deer, and have conducted the first characterization of secretion from this preparation. Cervine chromaffin cells, preloaded with [3H]noradrenalin, displayed a strong secretory response to the cholinergic agonist carbachol, with a maximal secretion of approximately 28% cell content over 15 min. This response was reproduced by nicotinic but not muscarinic agonists and was similarly inhibited by nicotinic but not muscarinic antagonists. Nicotine-evoked secretion measured over a 15 min time period was inhibited approximately 50% by the L-type Ca2+-channel antagonist nifedipine and approximately 20% by N-type (omega-conotoxin GVIA) or N, P/Q-type (omega-conotoxin MVIIC) antagonists. In contrast the response was unaffected by omega-agatoxin IVA, a P/Q-type antagonist. In addition to nicotinic receptor stimulation, activation of PACAP or histamine H1 receptors resulted in a concentration-dependent increase in secretion. PACAP was approximately two-fold more effective than histamine although both were weaker secretagogues than nicotine. In contrast, cervine chromaffin cells did not respond to angiotensin II or bradykinin, two agents known to stimulate secretion from bovine chromaffin cells. These data provide an initial characterization of the secretory response from cervine adrenal medullary chromaffin cells indicating that there are marked similarities but also potentially significant differences between them and their far more extensively described bovine counterparts.