PROLACTIN EFFECTS ON BEHAVIOR

描述(摘自申请者摘要)：催乳素(PRL)促进和 协调必要的各种生理和行为变化 脊椎动物成功的父母照料。虽然催乳素对 为父母服务的外周靶器官已经在 对于PRL如何直接或间接地作用于 大脑诱导父母行为和相关的神经内分泌变化，如 性腺活动减少。这项提议采用了一个强大的鸟类模型，即 环鸽(Streptopelia Risoria)，来详细探讨这些效应。这个 拟议的研究建立在我们先前工作的基础上，以1)表征 调节这些变化的神经化学事件和2)确定关键成分 所涉及的神经回路。神经化学调查将评估 神经肽Y(NPY)和肾上腺糖皮质激素可作为高血压的潜在介质 PRL诱导的亲代吞噬(摄食)和性腺抑制。这些 研究将检查脑室(Icv)注射的效果。 这些化合物和测量NPY基因表达和蛋白的变化。 对PRL或糖皮质激素注射的反应。他们还将确定这些 PRL引起的改变可通过阻断NPY或糖皮质激素的作用而减弱。 促性腺激素释放激素可能介导催乳素诱导的性腺抑制和 多巴胺参与了PRL诱导的双亲过度吞噬。 神经解剖学研究将使用免疫细胞化学检测 即刻早期基因产品，用于识别被激活的神经元 脑室注射催乳素、神经肽Y和糖皮质激素的反应，以可视化 与亲代相互作用相关的神经元激活模式 Young，并确定模式如何随PRL和之前的 父母的经历。这些研究有助于实现以下长期目标 获得PRL如何影响大脑功能和 在父母的背景下的行为。他们还将增加我们有限的 了解腺垂体激素如何影响脑活动和 为不孕不育的原因、能量平衡和 与高催乳素血症相关的行为改变 临床环境。

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.