1. Central effects of ghrelin on the adrenal cortex: a morphological and hormonal study.
- Author
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Milosević VLj, Stevanović DM, Nesić DM, Sosić-Jurjević BT, Ajdzanović VZ, Starcević VP, and Severs WB
- Subjects
- Adrenal Cortex anatomy & histology, Adrenal Cortex metabolism, Adrenal Cortex Hormones blood, Adrenocorticotropic Hormone blood, Adrenocorticotropic Hormone metabolism, Aldosterone blood, Aldosterone metabolism, Animals, Body Weight drug effects, Corticosterone blood, Corticosterone metabolism, Eating drug effects, Injections, Intraventricular, Male, Organ Size drug effects, Rats, Rats, Wistar, Zona Fasciculata anatomy & histology, Zona Fasciculata drug effects, Zona Glomerulosa anatomy & histology, Zona Glomerulosa drug effects, Zona Reticularis anatomy & histology, Zona Reticularis drug effects, Adrenal Cortex drug effects, Adrenal Cortex Hormones metabolism, Ghrelin administration & dosage
- Abstract
Ghrelin, a growth hormone secretagogue that exerts an important role in appetite and weight regulation, participates in the activation of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. Male Wistar rats (5/group) received daily for 5 days, via an ICV (intracerebroventricular) cannula, 5 microl phosphate buffered saline with or without 1 microg of rat ghrelin. Two hours after the last injection, blood and adrenal glands were collected from decapitated rats for blood hormone analyses and histologic and morphometric processing. Ghrelin treatment resulted in increased (p<0.05) body weight (13%), absolute whole adrenal gland weight (18%) and whole adrenal gland volume (20%). The absolute volumes of the entire adrenal cortex, ZG, ZF, and ZR also increased (p<0.05) after ghrelin by 20%, 21%, 21% and 11%, respectively. Ghrelin-treated rats had elevated (p<0.05) blood concentrations of ACTH, aldosterone and corticosterone (68%, 32% and 67%, respectively). The data clearly provide both morphological and hormonal status that ghrelin acts centrally to exert a global stimulatory effect on the adrenal cortex. Clarifying of the ghrelin precise role in the multiple networks affecting the stress hormone release, besides its well known energy and metabolic unbalance effects, remains a very important research goal.
- Published
- 2010