PROLACTIN EFFECTS ON BEHAVIOR

描述（改编自申请人的摘要）：催乳素（PRL）促进和 协调各种必要的生理和行为变化 在脊椎动物中成功的父母照顾。尽管PRL对 已经研究了充当亲本功能的外周靶器官， 一些深度，很少有人知道PRL如何直接或间接地作用于 大脑诱导父母的行为和相关的神经内分泌变化，如 性腺活动减少这个建议采用了一个强大的鸟类模型， 环鸽（Streptopelia risoria），详细探讨这些影响。的 建议的研究建立在我们以前的工作，以1）表征 神经化学事件，介导这些变化和2）确定关键组成部分 所涉及的神经回路。神经化学研究将评估 神经肽Y（NPY）和肾上腺糖皮质激素作为潜在的介质， PRL诱导的亲代摄食过多（摄食）和性腺抑制。这些 研究将检查脑室内（ICV）注射 这些化合物和测量的变化，神经肽Y基因表达和蛋白质， 对PRL或糖皮质激素注射的反应。他们还将确定这些 通过阻断NPY或糖皮质激素的作用，可减弱PRL诱导的变化。 GnRH介导PRL诱导的性腺抑制的可能性研究 多巴胺参与催乳素诱导的父母食欲过盛也提出了。 神经解剖学研究将使用免疫细胞化学检测 立即早期的基因产物，以确定神经元被激活， 对ICV注射PRL、NPY和糖皮质激素的反应，以观察 与父母相互作用相关的神经元激活模式 年轻，并确定如何响应PRL和以前的模式变化 父母的经验。这些研究有助于实现 获得PRL如何影响大脑功能的综合图片， 父母背景下的行为。他们还将增加我们有限的 了解腺垂体激素如何影响大脑活动， 提供新的见解不孕症的原因，能量平衡， 与高泌乳素血症相关的行为改变 临床设置。

DESCRIPTION (adapted from applicant's abstract): Prolactin (PRL) promotes and coordinates the various physiological and behavioral changes that are necessary for successful parental care in vertebrates. Although the effects of PRL on peripheral target organs that serve parental functions have been studied in some depth, much less is known about how PRL acts directly or indirectly on the brain to induce parental behavior and associated neuroendocrine changes, such as reduced gonadal activity. This proposal employs a powerful avian model, the ring dove (Streptopelia risoria), to explore these effects in detail. The proposed studies build on our previous work to 1) characterize the neurochemical events that mediate these changes and 2) identify key components of the neural circuitry involved. Neurochemical investigations will evaluate neuropeptide Y (NPY) and adrenal glucocorticoids as potential mediators of PRL-induced parental hyperphagia (feeding) and gonadal suppression. These studies will examine the effects of intracerebroventricular (ICV) injections of these compounds and measure changes in NPY gene expression and protein in response to PRL or glucocorticoid injection. They will also determine if these PRL-induced changes are attenuated by blocking NPY or glucocorticoid action. Studies of possible GnRH mediation of PRL-induced gonadal suppression and dopamine involvement in PRL-induced parental hyperphagia are also proposed. Neuroanatomical investigations will use immunocytochemical detection of immediate-early gene products to identify neurons that are activated in response to ICV injection of PRL, NPY, and glucocorticoids, to visualize the pattern of neuronal activation associated with parental interactions with young, and to determine how the pattern changes in response to PRL and previous parental experience. These studies contribute to the long term objective of obtaining an integrated picture of how PRL influences brain function and behavior in a parental context. They will also increase our limited understanding of how adenohypophyseal hormones influence brain activity and provide new insights into the causes of infertility, energy balance, and behavioral alterations that are associated with hyperprolactinemia in the clinical setting.