The paraventricular nucleus in heart failure

心力衰竭是一种严重衰弱的疾病，预后很差。它的特点是液体潴留和高度神经活动，特别是对肾脏和心脏。即使使用目前最好的治疗方法，心力衰竭患者仍然会遭受异常高的神经活动，从而进一步损害这种情况。该项目的成功完成将为大脑在心力衰竭中神经活动升高中的作用提供相当大的见解。它也将为我们提供一个重要的作用，在反射交感神经调节的一个重要的大脑区域称为下丘脑室旁核（PVN）的理解。我们的发现将有助于我们了解参与反射神经调节的神经递质的性质以及参与PVN的特定神经元。这些知识可以帮助我们在大脑中发现新的潜在治疗靶点，以减轻心力衰竭中观察到的问题。

Heart failure is a severely debilitating condition with a poor prognosis. It is characterized by retention of fluid and high nervous activity especially to the kidneys and the heart. Even with the best current treatment available, patients with heart failure still suffer from abnormally high nerve activity to the further detriment of this condition. The successful completion of this project will provide considerable insight into the role of the brain in the elevated nerve activity in heart failure. It will also provide us with a significant understanding of the role in reflex sympathetic nerve regulation of an important brain region known as the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVN). Our findings will help us understand the nature of the neurotransmitters contributing to the reflex nerve regulation and the specific neurons within the PVN involved. This knowledge could help us to identify novel potential therapeutic targets within the brain to alleviate the problems observed in heart failure.