15 results on '"Francisca Gomez"'
Search Results
2. Metyrapone prevents brain damage induced by status epilepticus in the rat lithium-pilocarpine model
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Pablo Bascuñana, Francisca Gomez, Miguel A. Pozo, Ahmed Anis Shiha, Luis García-García, Rubén Fernández de la Rosa, Ágata Silván, Mercedes Delgado, and Jens P. Bankstahl
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0301 basic medicine ,Male ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Carbazoles ,Status epilepticus ,Brain damage ,Hippocampal formation ,Neuroprotection ,Rats, Sprague-Dawley ,03 medical and health sciences ,Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience ,0302 clinical medicine ,Status Epilepticus ,Fluorodeoxyglucose F18 ,Internal medicine ,medicine ,Animals ,Gliosis ,Enzyme Inhibitors ,Pharmacology ,Glial fibrillary acidic protein ,biology ,Metyrapone ,Chemistry ,Pilocarpine ,Brain ,medicine.disease ,Receptors, GABA-A ,Immunohistochemistry ,Astrogliosis ,Disease Models, Animal ,030104 developmental biology ,Endocrinology ,Glucose ,Neuroprotective Agents ,nervous system ,Astrocytes ,Positron-Emission Tomography ,biology.protein ,Lithium Compounds ,Autoradiography ,medicine.symptom ,Radiopharmaceuticals ,Carrier Proteins ,030217 neurology & neurosurgery ,medicine.drug - Abstract
The status epilepticus (SE) induced by lithium-pilocarpine is a well characterized rodent model of the human temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) which is accompanied by severe brain damage. Stress and glucocorticoids markedly contribute to exacerbate neuronal damage induced by seizures but the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. Herein we sought to investigate whether a single administration of metyrapone (150 mg/kg, i.p.), an 11β-hydroxylase inhibitor, enzyme involved in the peripheral and central synthesis of corticosteroids, had neuroprotective properties in this model. Two experiments were carried out. In exp. 1, metyrapone was administered 3 h before pilocarpine injection whereas in exp. 2, metyrapone administration took place at the onset of the SE. In both experiments, 3 days after the insult, brain metabolism was assessed by in vivo 2-deoxy-2-[18F]fluoro- d -glucose ([18F]FDG) positron emission tomography (PET). Brains were processed for analyses of markers of hippocampal integrity (Nissl staining), neurodegeneration (Fluoro-Jade C), astrogliosis (glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) immunohistochemistry) and, for a marker of activated microglia by in vitro autoradiography with the TSPO (18 kDa translocator protein) radioligand [18F]GE180. The SE resulted in a consistent hypometabolism in hippocampus, cortex and striatum and neuronal damage, hippocampal neurodegeneration, neuronal death and gliosis. Interestingly, metyrapone had neuroprotective effects when administered before, but not after the insult. In summary, we conclude that metyrapone administration prior but not after the SE protected from brain damage induced by SE in the lithium-pilocarpine model. Therefore, it seems that the effect of metyrapone is preventive in nature and likely related to its antiseizure properties.
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- 2016
3. Glucocorticoids dose-dependently remodel energy stores and amplify incentive relativity effects
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Francisca Gomez, Mary F. Dallman, and Norman C. Pecoraro
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Male ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Sucrose ,Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism ,Locomotor activity ,Rats, Sprague-Dawley ,chemistry.chemical_compound ,Endocrinology ,Corticosterone ,Internal medicine ,medicine ,Animals ,Chronic stress ,Insulin secretion ,Biological Psychiatry ,Drug Implants ,Analysis of Variance ,Appetitive Behavior ,Motivation ,Dose-Response Relationship, Drug ,Endocrine and Autonomic Systems ,Cholesterol ,Adrenalectomy ,Adaptation, Physiological ,Rats ,Psychiatry and Mental health ,chemistry ,Body Composition ,Sucrose intake ,Energy Metabolism ,Glucocorticoid ,medicine.drug - Abstract
To test whether glucocorticoids amplify incentive motivation, three groups of rats were adrenalectomized and replaced subcutaneously with pellets of corticosterone (B), containing 0, 30, or 80% B and cholesterol. A fourth group of sham adrenalectomized rats received cholesterol pellets. Animals were placed on a four-arm maze baited with 32% sucrose for 5-min daily sessions. After 7 days of minimal drinking on the maze at free-feeding weights, their body weights were gradually reduced to 90% of their free-feeding weights for the next 12 days (pre-shift phase). The sucrose concentration was reduced to 4% for the next 2 days (post-shift phase). B dose-dependently increased 32% sucrose intake, insulin secretion, and relative fat depots. Intake was reduced similarly in all groups following the shift to 4%, resulting in a relative B-dependent intake suppression following the shift to 4%. Videoscoring of locomotor activity indicated that search behaviors were not different between groups prior to the shift to 4%, whereas the increase in search behavior following the shift to 4% sucrose was entirely B-dependent. These data were predicted by a new model of chronic stress positing two regulatory axes on brain by glucocorticoids: one indirect axis by which glucocorticoids remodel energy stores to provide metabolic feedback and a direct axis whereby glucocorticoids act directly on brain to remodel appetitive structure.
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- 2005
4. Single, but not multiple pairings of sucrose and corticosterone enhance memory for sucrose drinking and amplify remote reward relativity effects
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Mary F. Dallman, Norman C. Pecoraro, Monica Roy, Francisca Gomez, Susanne E. la Fleur, and Other departments
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Male ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Taste ,Sucrose ,Cognitive Neuroscience ,medicine.medical_treatment ,Conditioning, Classical ,Experimental and Cognitive Psychology ,Developmental psychology ,Injections ,Discrimination Learning ,Rats, Sprague-Dawley ,Behavioral Neuroscience ,chemistry.chemical_compound ,Corticosterone ,Internal medicine ,medicine ,Ingestion ,Animals ,Saline ,Analysis of Variance ,Dose-Response Relationship, Drug ,Adrenalectomy ,Memoria ,Association Learning ,Rats ,Endocrinology ,chemistry ,Analysis of variance ,Psychology ,Neuroscience ,Reinforcement, Psychology ,Glucocorticoid ,medicine.drug - Abstract
This study tested whether pre-training pairings of ingestion of a 32% sucrose solution and injection(s) of corticosterone (B) would enhance later ingestion in the absence of B, and whether these effects would carry over into later contrast-like effects when animals were subsequently shifted to 4% sucrose. Frequency-dependence of these pairings was also examined. Three groups of male Sprague-Dawley rats were adrenalectomized (ADX). A fourth group was sham ADX. Each ADX group received three presentations of sucrose and B (666 microg/kg, s.c.). One received unpaired presentations (separated by days), one received two unpaired presentations and one paired (i.e., simultaneous) presentation, and one received three paired presentations. Shams received three sucrose presentations paired with saline. Single, but not multiple pairings of B with ingestion of a 32% sucrose solution enhanced later sucrose ingestion, a memorial-like effect that carried over into later, opposite contrast-like effects upon presentation of a less-preferred 4% sucrose solution. These effects could not be easily ascribed to differences in training, other than the pairing regimen itself, nor to motivational differences at the time of testing, and were presumed to be memorial. The pairing and frequency-dependence of these appetitive phenomena are analogous to what is frequently observed during acute or chronic exposure to aversive situations and/or neuromodulatory stress hormones, in terms of their bidirectional effects on memory. Through effects on memory, stress hormones may modulate reward and reward relativity.
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- 2005
5. Chronic Stress Promotes Palatable Feeding, which Reduces Signs of Stress: Feedforward and Feedback Effects of Chronic Stress
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Aditi Bhargava, Norman C. Pecoraro, Francisca Gomez, Mary F. Dallman, and Faith Reyes
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Male ,Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System ,endocrine system ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone ,medicine.medical_treatment ,Pituitary-Adrenal System ,Feedback ,Rats, Sprague-Dawley ,Food group ,Eating ,chemistry.chemical_compound ,Endocrinology ,Adrenocorticotropic Hormone ,Stress, Physiological ,Corticosterone ,Internal medicine ,medicine ,Animals ,Ingestion ,Chronic stress ,RNA, Messenger ,Testosterone ,business.industry ,Leptin ,Insulin ,Body Weight ,digestive, oral, and skin physiology ,Caloric theory ,Adrenalectomy ,Rats ,chemistry ,Chronic Disease ,Energy Intake ,business ,hormones, hormone substitutes, and hormone antagonists - Abstract
We suggested a new model of the effects of glucocorticoids (GCs) exerted during chronic stress, in which GCs directly stimulate activities in the brain while indirectly inhibiting activity in the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis through their metabolic shifts in energy stores in the periphery. This study is an initial test of our model. In a 2 x 2 design, we provided ad lib access to calorically dense lard and sucrose (comfort food) + chow or chow alone, and repeatedly restrained half of the rats in each group for 5 d (3 h/d). We measured caloric intake, body weight, caloric efficiency, ACTH, corticosterone (B), and testosterone during the period of restraint and leptin, insulin, and fat depot weights, as well as hypothalamic corticotropin-releasing factor mRNA at the end of the period. We hypothesized that chronically restrained rats would exhibit a relative increase in comfort food ingestion and that these rats would have reduced HPA responses to repeated restraint. Although total caloric intake was reduced in both groups of restrained rats, compared with controls, the proportion of comfort food ingested increased in the restrained rats compared with their nonrestrained controls. Moreover, caloric efficiency was rescued in the stressed, comfort food group. Furthermore, ACTH and B responses to the repeated restraint bouts were reduced in the rats with access to comfort food. Corticotropin-releasing factor mRNA was reduced in control rats eating comfort food compared with those eating chow, but there were no differences between the stressed groups. The results of this experiment tend to support our model of chronic effects of stress and GCs, showing a stressor-induced preference for comfort food, and a comfort-food reduction in activity of the HPA axis.
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- 2004
6. Minireview: glucocorticoids--food intake, abdominal obesity, and wealthy nations in 2004
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Norman C. Pecoraro, Susanne E. la Fleur, Susan F. Akana, Francisca Gomez, Hani Houshyar, and Mary F. Dallman
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medicine.medical_specialty ,Food intake ,Calorie ,medicine.medical_treatment ,chemistry.chemical_compound ,Eating ,Endocrinology ,Corticosterone ,Internal medicine ,Abdomen ,medicine ,Animals ,Humans ,Insulin ,Obesity ,Glucocorticoids ,Abdominal obesity ,business.industry ,medicine.disease ,chemistry ,Socioeconomic Factors ,medicine.symptom ,business ,Energy Metabolism ,Glucocorticoid ,hormones, hormone substitutes, and hormone antagonists ,medicine.drug ,Hormone - Abstract
Glucocorticoids have a major effect on food intake that is underappreciated, although the effects of glucocorticoids on metabolism and abdominal obesity are quite well understood. Physiologically appropriate concentrations of naturally secreted corticosteroids (cortisol in humans, corticosterone in rats) have major stimulatory effects on caloric intake and, in the presence of insulin, preference. We first address the close relationship between glucocorticoids and energy balance under both normal and abnormal conditions. Because excess caloric intake is stored in different fat depots, we also address the systemic effects of glucocorticoids on redistribution of stored energy preponderantly into intraabdominal fat depots. We provide strong evidence that glucocorticoids modify feeding and then discuss the role of insulin on the choice of ingested calories, as well as suggesting some central neural pathways that may be involved in these actions of glucocorticoids and insulin. Finally, we discuss the evolutionary utility of these actions of the stress hormones, and how dysregulatory effects of chronically elevated glucocorticoids may occur in our modern, rich societies.
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- 2004
7. A spoonful of sugar: feedback signals of energy stores and corticosterone regulate responses to chronic stress
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Kevin D. Laugero, Francisca Gomez, M. E. Bell, Susan F. Akana, Mary F. Dallman, Sotara Manalo, and Seema Bhatnagar
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Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System ,Sucrose ,endocrine system ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Drinking ,Pituitary-Adrenal System ,Experimental and Cognitive Psychology ,Endogeny ,Autonomic Nervous System ,Inhibitory postsynaptic potential ,Feedback ,Eating ,Behavioral Neuroscience ,Basal (phylogenetics) ,chemistry.chemical_compound ,Receptors, Glucocorticoid ,Corticosterone ,Internal medicine ,medicine ,Animals ,Chronic stress ,Receptor ,Glucocorticoids ,Motivation ,Chemistry ,Brain ,Adrenalectomy ,Metabolism ,Rats ,Endocrinology ,Taste ,Arousal ,Energy Metabolism ,Stress, Psychological ,Glucocorticoid ,medicine.drug - Abstract
To begin to understand the effects of chronic stress on food intake and energy stores, the effects of increased activity in the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and glucocorticoids (GCs) on the body and brain must first be understood. We propose two major systems that are both GC sensitive: a metabolic feedback that is inhibitory and a direct central GC drive. Under basal conditions, the metabolic feedback signal to brain is dominant, although infusion of GC into a lateral brain ventricle blocks the effects of the metabolic feedback. Chronic stress activates GC secretion and brain nuclear GC receptor occupancy, markedly changing the normal relationships between these two major corticosteroid-activated systems. The stressor-induced switch in the relative strengths of these signals determines subsequent brain regulation of stress responses (behavioral, neuroendocrine and autonomic outflows). The metabolic feedback effects of GCs are mimicked by voluntary sucrose ingestion in adrenalectomized rats, and experiments suggest that the metabolic feedback also inhibits the stressor-induced direct GC drive on brain. We speculate that the interaction between peripheral and central GC-sensitive signaling systems may be coupled through the inhibitory actions of endogenous opiatergic inputs on corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) neurons.
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- 2003
8. Warning! Nearby Construction Can Profoundly Affect Your Experiments
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Mary F. Dallman, Francisca Gomez, SuJean J. Choi, Kevin D. Laugero, Alan Chu, Victor Viau, M. E. Bell, Susan F. Akana, Seema Bhatnagar, and L. Soriano
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Mice, Knockout ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Food intake ,Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism ,Body Weight ,Biology ,Body weight ,Stress hormone ,Eating ,Mice ,chemistry.chemical_compound ,Phenotype ,Endocrinology ,Highly sensitized ,chemistry ,Stress, Physiological ,Corticosterone ,Facility Design and Construction ,Internal medicine ,medicine ,Animals ,Early warning system ,Neuroscience ,Hormone - Abstract
This is meant to alert people to potentially major effects of construction projects on research results. Because we study the effects of stress on regulation of ACTH and corticosterone secretion and of serotonin receptors and stress on energy balance, we serve as an early warning system when things go awry. Most of our experiments include taking daily, or twice daily, measurements of rat or mouse weights and food intake as well as stress hormone levels. We are highly sensitized to environmental disruption and we've shown previously the effects of construction on stress hormones (1). However, we did not anticipate the change and disruption in energy balance that may occur in response to environmental perturbation. We provide two examples of these, below.
- Published
- 1999
9. Diverse basal and stress-related phenotypes of Sprague Dawley rats from three vendors
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Mary F. Dallman, James P. Warne, Susanne E. la Fleur, Abigail B. Ginsberg, Francisca Gomez, Norman C. Pecoraro, and Other departments
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Leptin ,Male ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System ,medicine.medical_treatment ,Pituitary-Adrenal System ,Experimental and Cognitive Psychology ,Adrenocorticotropic hormone ,Biology ,Body Temperature ,Rats, Sprague-Dawley ,Behavioral Neuroscience ,Basal (phylogenetics) ,chemistry.chemical_compound ,Adrenocorticotropic Hormone ,Species Specificity ,Corticosterone ,Internal medicine ,medicine ,Animals ,Insulin ,Body Weight ,Caloric theory ,Feeding Behavior ,Rats ,Endocrinology ,Phenotype ,chemistry ,Basal metabolic rate ,Body Composition ,Basal Metabolism ,medicine.symptom ,Energy Intake ,Weight gain ,Stress, Psychological - Abstract
Based on observed phenotypic differences in growth and ACTH responses to stress in Sprague Dawley rats obtained from different vendors, we ran head-to-head comparisons on rats obtained from three different vendors, Harlan, Charles River, and Simonsen, with respect to baseline phenotypic differences and a metabolic feedback hypothesis of hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) regulation. Charles River and Harlan rats gained weight faster than Simonsen rats, but chow intake standardized for body weight was not increased, consistent with their greater caloric efficiency. Weight gain was inversely related with mean daily temperatures, without differences in activity levels. Half of the animals given lard and 32% sucrose solutions in addition to chow increased caloric intake and core temperature, decreased caloric efficiency, and increased fat depots, leptin, and in Simonsen rats, insulin. A 5-day regimen of once-daily 2-h restraint decreased feeding and caloric efficiency. Rats from two vendors with the availability of sucrose and lard, Charles River and Simonsen, showed blunted HPA responses to restraint compared to chow controls, whereas the Harlans exhibited no adrenocorticotropin (ACTH) response and an amplified adrenocortical response on the high-energy diet compared to chow controls. Substantial phenotypic differences exist between Sprague Dawley rats from different vendors with respect to metabolism and HPA function. The metabolic feedback hypothesis was supported in two of the three vendors' rats.
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- 2006
10. Chronic stress-induced effects of corticosterone on brain: direct and indirect
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A. M. Strack, Norman C. Pecoraro, Mary F. Dallman, K S Scribner, S. E. La Fleur, Susan F. Akana, Francisca Gomez, Hani Houshyar, and Other departments
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medicine.medical_specialty ,endocrine system ,medicine.medical_treatment ,Inhibitory postsynaptic potential ,General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology ,chemistry.chemical_compound ,History and Philosophy of Science ,Anterior pituitary ,Corticosterone ,Stress, Physiological ,Internal medicine ,medicine ,Animals ,Humans ,Chronic stress ,General Neuroscience ,Insulin ,Brain ,Endocrinology ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 ,chemistry ,Chronic Disease ,Excitatory postsynaptic potential ,Locus coeruleus ,Psychology ,Glucocorticoid ,hormones, hormone substitutes, and hormone antagonists ,medicine.drug - Abstract
Acutely, glucocorticoids act to inhibit stress-induced corticotrophin-releasing factor (CRF) and adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH) secretion through their actions in brain and anterior pituitary (canonical feedback). With chronic stress, glucocorticoid feedback inhibition of ACTH secretion changes markedly. Chronically stressed rats characteristically exhibit facilitated ACTH responses to acute, novel stressors. Moreover, in adrenalectomized rats in which corticosterone was replaced, steroid concentrations in the higher range are required for facilitation of ACTH responses to occur after chronic stress or diabetes. Infusion of corticosterone intracerebroventricularly into adrenalectomized rats increases basal ACTH, tends to increase CRF, and allows facilitation of ACTH responses to repeated restraint. Therefore, with chronic stressors, corticosterone seems to act in brain in an excitatory rather than an inhibitory fashion. We believe, under conditions of chronic stress, that there is an indirect glucocorticoid feedback that is mediated through the effects of the steroid +/- insulin on metabolism. Increased energy stores feedback on brain to inhibit hypothalamic CRF and decrease the expression of dopamine-beta-hydroxylase in the locus coeruleus. These changes would be expected to decrease the level of discomfort and anxiety induced by chronic stress. Moreover, central neural actions of glucocorticoids abet the peripheral effects of the steroids by increasing the salience and ingestion of pleasurable foods.
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- 2004
11. Androgen-sensitive changes in regulation of restraint-induced adrenocorticotropin secretion between early and late puberty in male rats
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Mary F. Dallman, Sotara Manalo, and Francisca Gomez
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Male ,Restraint, Physical ,endocrine system ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Vasopressin ,medicine.drug_class ,Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone ,Neuropeptide ,Adrenocorticotropic hormone ,Biology ,Flutamide ,Rats, Sprague-Dawley ,Corticotropin-releasing hormone ,chemistry.chemical_compound ,Endocrinology ,Adrenocorticotropic Hormone ,Stress, Physiological ,Internal medicine ,medicine ,Animals ,Testosterone ,RNA, Messenger ,Sexual Maturation ,Median Eminence ,Septal nuclei ,Adrenalectomy ,Androgen Antagonists ,Androgen ,Amygdala ,Rats ,Arginine Vasopressin ,Stria terminalis ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,nervous system ,chemistry ,Receptors, Androgen ,Septal Nuclei ,Corticosterone ,hormones, hormone substitutes, and hormone antagonists ,Paraventricular Hypothalamic Nucleus - Abstract
Regulation of ACTH secretion changes between early (40 d) and late (60 d) puberty in male rats. We tested whether this occurs because of activating effects of testosterone on the brain. We measured testosterone and ACTH responses to repeated restraint in adrenalectomized, corticosterone-replaced rats entering and leaving puberty with or without treatment with flutamide, a nonsteroidal androgen-receptor antagonist. Flutamide increased testosterone. ACTH responses were high and suppressed by flutamide at 40 d. At 60 d, ACTH responses were low and increased by flutamide. On d 4, basal arginine vasopressin (AVP) mRNA was increased by restraint, but not age, in the medial parvicellular paraventricular nucleus (mpPVN) and medial amygdala and increased with age in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis. We counted numbers of AVP-immunoreactive (AVP-ir) and corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF)-ir neurons. In medial amygdala, there was no change in AVP+ cells. With restraint, CRF+ cells in the central nucleus decreased at 40 d and increased at 60 d. Flutamide did not affect the response at 40 d but blocked restraint-induced increases at 60 d. After restraint, the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis AVP-ir correlated negatively with mpPVN CRF-ir at 40 d and with mpPVN AVP-ir at 60 d. In PVN, there were no effects on CRF+ cells. However, AVP+ cells increased only with restraint plus flutamide at 40 d and tended to increase with restraint and decrease with restraint plus flutamide at 60 d. We conclude that during puberty testosterone induces marked changes in regulation of neuropeptides in pathways known to determine autonomic, neuroendocrine, and behavioral responses to chronic stress.
- Published
- 2003
12. Corticosterone infused intracerebroventricularly inhibits energy storage and stimulates the hypothalamo-pituitary axis in adrenalectomized rats drinking sucrose
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Kevin D. Laugero, Mary F. Dallman, Sotara Manalo, and Francisca Gomez
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Blood Glucose ,Leptin ,Male ,Restraint, Physical ,endocrine system ,Pituitary gland ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone ,medicine.medical_treatment ,Drinking ,Hypothalamus ,Neuropeptide ,Adrenocorticotropic hormone ,Cerebral Ventricles ,Rats, Sprague-Dawley ,Corticotropin-releasing hormone ,chemistry.chemical_compound ,Endocrinology ,Receptors, Glucocorticoid ,Adrenocorticotropic Hormone ,Corticosterone ,Dietary Sucrose ,Stress, Physiological ,Internal medicine ,medicine ,Animals ,Insulin ,Brain Chemistry ,Chemistry ,Adrenalectomy ,Body Weight ,Brain ,Rats ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,Pituitary Gland ,Energy Metabolism ,hormones, hormone substitutes, and hormone antagonists - Abstract
When allowed to drink sucrose, bilaterally adrenalectomized (ADX) rats exhibit normal weight gain, food intake, sympathetic neural activity, and ACTH compared with sham-ADX rats. Furthermore, ADX rats drinking sucrose have normal corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) mRNA throughout brain. In ADX rats without sucrose, all of these variables are abnormal. Systemic corticosterone (B) replacement also restores these variables in ADX rats to normal. To test whether B acts centrally, we infused B or saline intracerebroventricularly into ADX rats under basal conditions and after repeated restraint. Rats were exposed to no stress or 3 h/d restraint for 3 d. Body weights and food and fluid intakes were measured. Brains were analyzed using immunocytochemistry against glucocorticoid receptors (GR) and CRF. Intracerebroventricular B blocked the positive effects of sucrose on metabolism, increased basal ACTH concentrations, and augmented ACTH responses to restraint on d 3. B-infused rats exhibited nuclear GR staining in perirhinal cortex, hippocampus, and hypothalamic paraventricular nuclei, showing that infused B spreads effectively. CRF staining in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus was higher in B- than in saline-infused rats. We conclude that under basal conditions B acts systemically, but not in the brain, to restore metabolism and neuropeptides after adrenalectomy. By contrast, tonic GR occupancy in brain initiates metabolic and ACTH responses characteristic of stress.
- Published
- 2002
13. Marked regulatory shifts in gonadal, adrenal, and metabolic system responses to repeated restraint stress occur within a 3-week period in pubertal male rats
- Author
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Hani Houshyar, Francisca Gomez, and Mary F. Dallman
- Subjects
Leptin ,Male ,Restraint, Physical ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System ,Period (gene) ,Pituitary-Adrenal System ,Growth ,Rats, Sprague-Dawley ,chemistry.chemical_compound ,Basal (phylogenetics) ,Endocrinology ,Adrenocorticotropic Hormone ,Corticosterone ,Stress, Physiological ,Internal medicine ,Adrenal Glands ,medicine ,Animals ,Testosterone ,Sexual Maturation ,Gonads ,business.industry ,Age Factors ,Rats ,chemistry ,Adipose Tissue ,medicine.symptom ,business ,Energy Metabolism ,Weight gain ,hormones, hormone substitutes, and hormone antagonists ,Hormone ,Blood sampling - Abstract
We compared testosterone (T), corticotropin (ACTH), corticosterone (B), and leptin responses to three daily 3-h bouts of restraint and blood sampling as well as energy balance of male rats in early (40 d of age) and late (60 d of age) puberty. Rats either remained intact or were adrenalectomized and replaced with B clamped at basal mean values (ADX+B). Hormones, weight gain, food intake, and fat depot weight were measured during or after the days of stress. The major effects of restraint on T, ACTH, and energetic responses were age dependent, but clamped B affected the effects of restraint seen in intact rats at each age. T secretion was inhibited in 40-d-old and was stimulated in 60-d-old rats after restraint. ACTH responses were high, but diminished with repetition of stress in intact, but not ADX+B, 40-d-old rats. ACTH responses were lower, but constant across days, in both intact and ADX+B 60-d-old rats. Younger rats gained weight during the period of stress, whereas older rats stopped gaining weight. We conclude that the central regulation of stress responses shifts markedly between early and late puberty, although stress-induced B responses are important at both ages. In early puberty, priority is placed on maintaining normal ponderal growth, whereas in late puberty, priority is placed on maintaining reproductive capability.
- Published
- 2002
14. Manipulation of androgens causes different energetic responses to cold in 60- and 40-day-old male rats
- Author
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Francisca Gomez and Mary F. Dallman
- Subjects
Leptin ,Male ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Physiology ,medicine.drug_class ,medicine.medical_treatment ,Photoperiod ,Thymus Gland ,Body weight ,Rats, Sprague-Dawley ,chemistry.chemical_compound ,Corticosterone ,Stress, Physiological ,Physiology (medical) ,Internal medicine ,Male rats ,medicine ,Animals ,Insulin ,Testosterone ,Sexual Maturation ,Gonadal Steroid Hormones ,Analysis of Variance ,Chemistry ,Age Factors ,Adrenalectomy ,Dihydrotestosterone ,Organ Size ,Androgen ,Rats ,Cold Temperature ,Endocrinology ,Adipose Tissue ,Energy Metabolism ,Orchiectomy ,medicine.drug - Abstract
Previous studies suggested that adults respond differently than pubertal male rats to cold stress. To test the role of androgens in this difference, we adrenalectomized and replaced with corticosterone either 60- or 40-day-old male rats, then sham gonadectomized (Intact), gonadectomized (GDX), or GDX and replaced with testosterone (T; GDX+T) or dihydrotestosterone (DHT). One-half remained at room temperature (RT), and one-half lived in cold for 5 days. Cold reduced T in adult but not in pubertal Intacts. In 60-day-old rats, GDX with or without T replacement had minor effects on body weight (BW) and food intake (FI) at RT and cold. In 40-day-old rats at RT, androgens had slight effects; however, androgens affected almost all variables in cold. Separation of 40-day-old T-treated rats into two groups (moderate T levels, 1.4 ng/ml; high T levels, 1.9 ng/ml) revealed major differences between the groups. Moderate T (and DHT) prevented cold-induced loss of BW and increased FI. No T and high T induced decreased BW and FI in cold. We conclude that at 40 days of age, partial resistance to stress-induced reduction of T and high sensitivity to small changes in T have markedly positive effects on threatened energy balance.
- Published
- 2000
15. Basophil Activation Test Utility as a Diagnostic Tool in LTP Allergy
- Author
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José A. Cañas, Natalia Pérez-Sánchez, Leticia Lopera-Doblas, Francisca Palomares, Ana Molina, Joan Bartra, María J. Torres, Francisca Gómez, and Cristobalina Mayorga
- Subjects
basophil activation test ,diagnosis ,flow cytometry ,nonspecific lipid transfer proteins ,Pru p 3 ,Biology (General) ,QH301-705.5 ,Chemistry ,QD1-999 - Abstract
Plant-food allergy is an increasing problem, with nonspecific lipid transfer proteins (nsLTPs) triggering mild/severe reactions. Pru p 3 is the major sensitizer in LTP food allergy (FA). However, in vivo and in vitro diagnosis is hampered by the need for differentiating between asymptomatic sensitization and allergy with clinical relevance. The basophil activation test (BAT) is an ex vivo method able to identify specific IgE related to the allergic response. Thus, we aimed to establish the value of BAT in a precise diagnosis of LTP-allergic patients. Ninety-two individuals with peach allergy sensitized to LTP, Pru p 3, were finally included, and 40.2% of them had symptoms to peanut (n = 37). In addition, 16 healthy subjects were recruited. BAT was performed with Pru p 3 and Ara h 9 (peanut LTP) at seven ten-fold concentrations, and was evaluated by flow cytometry, measuring the percentage of CD63 (%CD63+) and CD203c (%CD203chigh) cells, basophil allergen threshold sensitivity (CD-Sens), and area under the dose–response curve (AUC). Significant changes in BAT parameters (%CD63+ and %CD203chigh) were found between the controls and patients. However, comparisons for %CD63+, %CD203chigh, AUC, and CD-Sens showed similar levels among patients with different symptoms. An optimal cut-off was established from ROC curves, showing a significant positive percentage of BAT in patients compared to controls and great values of sensitivity (>87.5%) and specificity (>85%). In addition, BAT showed differences in LTP-allergic patients tolerant to peanut using its corresponding LTP, Ara h 9. BAT can be used as a potential diagnostic tool for identifying LTP allergy and for differentiating peanut tolerance, although neither reactivity nor sensitivity can distinguish the severity of the clinical symptoms.
- Published
- 2022
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