Cerebellar interpositus nuclear and gastric vagal afferent inputs reach and converge onto glycemia-sensitive neurons of the ventromedial hypothalamic nucleus in rats

The glycemia-sensitive neurons of the ventromedial hypothalamic nucleus (VMN) have traditionally been implicated in feeding regulation. Some studies reported that the neuronal activity of the VMN could be modulated by inputs from the gastric vagal afferent, and the cerebellum might participate in regulating non-somatic visceral activities via the cerebellohypothalamic projections. The present study was therefore undertaken to investigate whether the inputs from the gastric vagal nerves and the cerebellar interpositus nucleus (IN) could reach and converge onto single VMN neurons, especially those glycemia-sensitive ones. Among recorded 283 VMN neurons, 187 (66.1%) and 139 (49.1%) responded to the gastric vagal and the cerebellar IN stimulations, respectively. Within the VMN neurons that were responsive to either of the gastric vagal or cerebellar IN stimulation, 91 responded to both of the stimuli, suggesting a convergence of gastric vagal and cerebellar inputs on the cells. When the gastric vagal nerves and cerebellar IN were stimulated simultaneously, a summation of the responses could be observed (n = 22). Moreover, of the 91 cells that responded to both of the gastric vagal and cerebellar IN stimuli, 61 (67.0%) were identified to be glycemia-sensitive neurons. These results demonstrate that the visceral signals conveyed by the gastric vagal afferents and the somatic information forwarded by the cerebellar IN could converge onto single VMN neurons, especially the glycemia-sensitive neurons. And the findings suggest that an integration of the somatic-visceral response related to the food intake could take place in the VMN and the cerebellum might actively participate in the short-term feeding regulation through the cerebellohypothalamic projections.