Ramon Cacabelos

Influence of Somatostatin and Growth Hormone-Releasing Factor on Behavior

Administration of hypothalamic peptides has been reported to induce behavioral changes and to modify neurological functions such as locomotor activity and learning. Somatostatin (SS) and growth hormone-releasing factor (GRF) exert opposite effects on anterior pituitary secretion. Similarly, at the central nervous system (CNS) level, SS and GRF display antagonistic actions on behavioral parameters. The authors were able to confirm these effects in male Wistar rats by means of a computerized electronic maze measuring locomotor activity and learning. SS concentration is reduced in specific areas of the CNS in patients with late onset of senile dementia of the Alzheimers type (SDAT). In early onset SDAT a GRF test elicits a growth hormone response much greater than that observed in normal controls of the same age or in patients with late onset SDAT. Thus, administration of GRF to patients with early onset SDAT has been followed by a significant improvement in locomotion, appetite, mental performance and social interaction. A possible therapeutic role of GRF in the management of patients with dementia remains to be explored.

Histaminergic Neuromodulation of the Release of Vasopressin

In an attempt to clarify the nature of histaminergic neuromodulation of the vasopressinergic system, several studies under different experimental paradigms were carried out. L-Histidine loads (8 mmol/kg, i.p.) induced a marked increase in histamine (HA) in the anterior (AHR) and posterior (PHR) hypothalamic regions, the median eminence (ME) and adenohypophysis (Ah) with no apparent effect on the concentration of HA in the neurohypophysis (Nh), as measured by high-performance liquid chromatography. These findings correlated with decreases in vasopressin (VP) levels in the AHR and ME, accompanied by increases of the neuropeptide in the PHR and Ah. Intraperitoneal injections of HA (6 mumol/kg), resulted in a significant (p less than 0.005) rise in VP levels in the PHR, ME and Ah. HA induced an elevation of VP in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) from 6.23 +/- 2.02 to 43 +/- 4.05 microU/mg, as well as a 60% reduction in neurohypophyseal VP. These HA-induced VP responses were abolished by both mepyramine (3 mumol/kg) and famotidine (4 mumol/kg) in the PHR and PFC. Mepyramine suppressed the HA-induced VP response in the Ah and enhanced it in the Nh, while famotidine did the opposite. When alpha-fluoromethylhistidine (FMH), an irreversible inhibitor of histidine decarboxylase, was administered at doses of 100 mg/kg/day (i.p.), hypothalamic HA levels fell by 40-45% after 1 h, by 50% after 3 h, and by 65-80% after 24 h in adrenalectomized rats. In the same conditions, but after a week of treatment with FMH, the VP response to adrenalectomy was clearly impaired.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Effect of Histamine Depletion on Circadian Variations of Corticotropin and Corticosterone in Rats

The effects of cerebral histamine depletion induced by alpha-fluoromethylhistidine (FMH) on corticotropin (ACTH) and corticosterone secretions were examined. Neither acute nor chronic FMH treatment altered the corticoadrenal responses to three types of stress: transposition, immobilization and water immersion. And exposure to stress did not affect the hypothalamic content of histamine. However, chronic intracerebral treatment with FMH had a significant effect on the circadian rhythm of the plasma corticosterone (CS) level in rats. Namely, it caused a marked attenuation of the amplitude of the peaks of the CS level resulting in an almost arrhythmic state. The maximum differences between FMH treated and untreated groups were seen at 8.00 and 20.00 h, the times when the illumination condition changed (light onset 8.00 h). This treatment with FMH also had a similar effect on the plasma ACTH concentration; namely the plasma ACTH level in the saline treated group was lower than that of the FMH-treated group at light onset and higher than the latter at dark onset, but was similar to the latter at other sampling points. These results indicate the histaminergic modulation of the circadian rhythm of hormonal secretion of the adrenal cortex and show that this phenomenon is mediated through the central nervous system by an influence on the rhythm of hypophyseal ACTH secretion possibly through alteration in the concentration of corticotropin-releasing factor.

Effect of neurotoxic lesions in the mammillary bodies on the distribution of brain histamine.

Unilateral lesions with ibotenic acid in the vicinity of the mammillary bodies where the histamine (HA)-secreting neurons are located induced bilateral reductions in the levels of HA in the posterior hypothalamus (40-60%), anterior hypothalamus (45%), and frontal cortex (30%) as well as in the ipsilateral hippocampus (40%) 7 days after injection. Changes in the concentration of HA in the median eminence and adenohypophysis were not significant, but in the neurohypophysis the content of HA increased by 80%. These results seem to indicate that intrahypothalamic and cortical HA pathways are bilateral in origin while hippocampal HA pathways are predominantly ipsilateral.