Neurovascular description in the South American plains vizcacha, Lagostomus maximus (Chinchilloidea, Caviomorpha). A study involving evolutionarily related species of Caviomorpha and Muroidea.

Oxygenated blood is required for the adequate metabolic activity of the brain. This is supplied by the circle of Willis (CoW) and the vertebrobasilar and carotid systems. The CoW ensures blood flow in case of arterial stenosis or occlusion. Different animal models have been explored for the CoW morphological and functional study. This work aims to characterize the vascular architecture of the CoW of the plains vizcacha, Lagostomus maximus (Suborder: Hystricomorpha), and to compare it with evolutionarily related species of Caviomorpha and Muroidea. The blood supply in adult plains vizcachas was studied using latex cerebrovascular casts and angiography. A caudo-rostral flow direction was determined, beginning in the spinal and vertebral arteries and converging in the basilar artery which bifurcates in the carotid-basilar communication in the caudal communicating arteries. In the first third of its course, the caudal cerebral arteries project laterally, and the middle and rostral cerebral arteries bifurcate from their rostral terminal segment, supplying the temporo-parietal and frontal cortex. The CoW architecture is mainly conserved between rodent species. Likewise, the small neurovascular variations observed could be considered phylogenetic morphological variations more than evolutionary adaptations. The absence of the rostral communicating artery that generates the rostral open architecture of the CoW in the vizcacha as in the other analyzed species, supports the need for a revision of the CoW classical function as a security system. Finally, this work supports the importance of expanding our understanding of brain anatomy among species, which may contribute to a better understanding of functional neuroanatomy.

Neocortical Anatomy in the South American Plains Vizcacha, Lagostomus maximus, Reveals Different Strategies in Encephalic Development among Hystricomorpha and Myomorpha Rodents.

Depending on the presence or absence of sulci and convolutions, the brains of mammals are classified as gyrencephalic or lissencephalic. We analyzed the encephalic anatomy of the hystricomorph rodent Lagostomus maximus in comparison with other evolutionarily related species. The encephalization quotient (EQ), gyrencephaly index (GI), and minimum cortical thickness (MCT) were calculated for the plains vizcacha as well as for other myomorph and hystricomorph rodents. The vizcacha showed a gyrencephalic brain with a sagittal longitudinal fissure that divides both hemispheres, and 3 pairs of sulci with bilateral symmetry; that is, lateral-rostral, intraparietal, and transverse sulci. The EQ had one of the lowest values among Hystricomorpha, while GI was one of the highest. Besides, the MCT was close to the mean value for the suborder. The comparison of EQ, GI, and MCT values between hystricomorph and myomorph species allowed the detection of significant variations. Both EQ and GI showed a significant increase in Hystricomorpha compared to Myomorpha, whereas a Pearson's analysis between EQ and GI depicted an inverse correlation pattern for Hystricomorpha. Furthermore, the ratio between MCT and GI also showed a negative correlation for Hystricomorpha and Myomorpha. Our phylogenetic analyses showed that Hystricomorpha and Myomorpha do not differ in their allometric patterning between the brain and body mass, GI and brain mass, and MCT and GI. In conclusion, gyrencephalic neuroanatomy in the vizcacha could have developed from the balance between the brain size, the presence of invaginations, and the cortical thickness, which resulted in a mixed encephalization strategy for the species. Gyrencephaly in the vizcacha, as well as in other Hystricomorpha, advocates in favor of the proposal that in the more recently evolved Myomorpha lissencephaly would have arisen from a phenotype reversal process.

Sequence analysis, tissue distribution and molecular physiology of the GnRH preprogonadotrophin in the South American plains vizcacha (Lagostomus maximus).

Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) is the regulator of the hypothalamic-hypophyseal-gonadal (HHG) axis. GnRH and GAP (GnRH-associated protein) are both encoded by a single preprohormone. Different variants of GnRH have been described. In most mammals, GnRH is secreted in a pulsatile manner that stimulates the release of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH). The South-American plains vizcacha, Lagostomus maximus, is a rodent with peculiar reproductive features including natural poly-ovulation up to 800 oocytes per estrous cycle, pre-ovulatory follicle formation throughout pregnancy and an ovulatory process which takes place at mid-gestation and adds a considerable number of secondary corpora lutea. Such features should occur under a special modulation of the HHG axis, guided by GnRH. The aim of this study was to sequence hypothalamic GnRH preprogonadotrophin mRNA in the vizcacha, to compare it with evolutionarily related species and to identify its expression, distribution and pulsatile pattern of secretion. The GnRH1variant was detected and showed the highest homology with that of chinchilla, its closest evolutionarily related species. Two isoforms of transcripts were identified, carrying the same coding sequence, but different 5' untranslated regions. This suggests a sensitive equilibrium between RNA stability and translational efficiency. A predominant hypothalamic localization and a pulsatile secretion pattern of one pulse of GnRH every hour were found. The lower homology found for GAP, also among evolutionarily related species, depicts a potentially different bioactivity.

Variation in progesterone receptors and GnRH expression in the hypothalamus of the pregnant South American plains vizcacha, Lagostomus maximus (Mammalia, Rodentia).

In mammals, elevated levels of progesterone (P4) throughout gestation maintain a negative feedback over the hypothalamic-hypophyseal-gonadal (H-H-G) axis, avoiding preovulatory follicular growth and preventing ovulation. Recent studies showed that in the South American plains vizcacha (Lagostomus maximus) folliculogenesis progresses to preovulatory stages during gestation, and an ovulatory process seems to occur at midgestation. The aim of this work was to analyze hypothalamic gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) and P4 receptors (PR) expression and luteinizing hormone (LH) secretion and correlate these with the functional state of the ovary in nonovulating and ovulating females and gestating females with special emphasis in the supposedly ovulating females at midgestation. We investigated P4 and LH serum levels as well as the distribution, localization, and expression of PR and GnRH in the hypothalamus of L. maximus at different time points during gestation and in nongestating, ovulating and nonovulating, females. A significant increment in GnRH, P4, and LH was detected in midpregnant vizcachas with respect to early-pregnant and to ovulating females. PR was also significantly increased in midpregnant animals. PR was detected in neurons of the preoptic and hypothalamic areas. Coexistence of both PR and GnRH in neurons of medial preoptic area and supraoptic nucleus was detected. Midpregnant animals showed increased number of PR immunoreactive cells at median eminence, localized adjacently to GnRH immunoreactive fibers. High expression of hypothalamic GnRH and PR, despite an increased level of P4, was correlated with the presence of antral, preovulatory follicles, and luteinized unruptured follicles at midgestation that suggest a possible role of the H-H-G axis in the modulation of ovulation during gestation in L. maximus.