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Central diabetes insipidus can occur after hypothalamic-hypophyseal tract injury. This injury is linked with a deficit in circulating vasopressin and oxytocin, which are produced in the supraoptic nuclei and the hypothalamic paraventricular nuclei. Previous studies indicate that an ectopic neural lobe forms after pituitary stalk lesion in rats, and while the relationship between an ectopic neural lobe and CDI outcomes is unclear, the underlying mechanisms are also unknown. Here, we report that two different CDI characteristics are shown in rats that underwent pituitary stalk electric lesion and are defined by two different groups classified as the recovery group and the no-recovery group. Rats showed an enlarged functional ectopic neural lobe at the lesion site with a low CDI index. Moreover, growth associated protein-43, p-PI3K and p-AKT were up-regulated in the unmyelinated fibers of the ectopic neural lobe. Our findings suggest that the enlarged structure formed a functional ectopic neural lobe after the pituitary stalk lesion, and its regeneration might influence the CDI outcome. This regeneration might be due to an increase in GAP-43 expression through the PI3K/AKT pathway.

Opioid addiction is a brain disease that severely harms society and personal health. Although the tremendous numbers of patients worldwide and emerged negative events, effective treatments for opioid addiction are still lacking. Neuropeptide Y (NPY) is one of the main orexigenic peptides that play vital roles in food intake and energy metabolism. However, increasing evidence indicates that NPY may have great potential in mediating reward effects and drug dependence. In the present study, we assessed the expression changes of NPY in the nucleus accumbens at different timepoints following morphine conditioned place preference (CPP) and investigated the functional importance of potential NPY changes. Our results showed that NPY expression significantly decreased in the nucleus accumbens shell (AcbSh) immediately after chronic morphine exposure. Subsequently, it increased rapidly at first and then gradually returned to normal levels. Further data indicated that these NPY changes were involved in morphine reward memory, demonstrated by a reduction in the extinction period after blocking of the Y5 receptor by L-152,804 in the AcbSh and a prolonged duration of the extinction period following the application of NPY. More importantly, the additional results revealed that L-152,804 also remarkably suppressed the reinstatement of morphine CPP. Together, our results indicate that a complicated plasticity of the NPY pathway in AcbSh occurs following morphine CPP, and this plasticity plays an important role in modulating morphine reward memory. These findings may enhance our understanding of the role of the NPY system in opioid addiction and indicate a promising target for opioid addiction treatment.

Background The histopathological study of brain tissue is a conventional method in neuroscience. However, procedures specifically developed to recover intact hypothalamic-pituitary brain specimens, are not available. New method We describe a detailed protocol for obtaining intact rat brain with pituitary-hypothalamus continuity through an intact infundibulum. The brain is collected via a ventral approach through removing the skull base. Membranous structures surrounding the hypothalamus-pituitary system can be preserved, including vasculature. Results We report a retaining sphenoid and dura technique to obtain intact hypothalamic-pituitary brain preparations, and we confirm the practicability of this method. By combination of this technique with histological analysis or 3D brain tissue clearing and imaging methods, the functional morphology structure of the hypothalamus-pituitary can be further explored. Comparison with existing method The current procedure is limited in showing the connection between the hypothalamus and the pituitary. Our procedure effectively protects the integrity of the fragile infundibulum and thus prevents the pituitary from separating from the hypothalamus. Conclusions We present a convenient and practical approach to obtain intact hypothalamus-pituitary brain specimens for subsequent histopathological evaluation.