Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UNIPROT:P01178 (oxytocin)
 15,767 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

In situ hybridization histochemistry and indirect immunofluorescence histochemistry were used to study changes in the expression of vasopressin (VP), oxytocin (OXY), tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), galanin (GAL), dynorphin (DYN) and cholecystokinin (CCK) in hypothalamic magnocellular neurons of the paraventricular (PVN) and supraoptic (SON) nuclei of rats. After prolonged administration of 2% sodium chloride as drinking water (salt-loading), the treatment increased the levels of VP, OXY, TH, GAL, DYN and CCK mRNA in the PVN and SON. The increase in CCK mRNA was, however, proportionally higher in the PVN than in the SON. Within cell bodies of the PVN and SON of salt-loaded rats, a depletion of VP- and OXY-like immunoreactivity (LI) and an increase in TH-LI were seen. In salt-loaded/colchicine-treated rats, a marked decrease in GAL- and DYN-LI, but no specific changes in CCK-LI were observed. Within nerve fibers of the posterior pituitary of salt-loaded rats, a marked depletion of VP-, GAL- and DYN-LI was found. Less pronounced depletion was observed in OXY- and CCK-LI, and no specific changes in TH-LI were seen. The results show that high plasma osmolality induces increased mRNA levels for VP, OXY, TH, GAL, DYN and CCK, presumably indicating increased synthesis, an increased export from cell somata of VP, OXY, GAL and DYN, and a decrease in levels of these peptides in the posterior pituitary, suggesting increased release. The catecholamine-synthesizing enzyme TH, however, which has a cytoplasmic localization and is not released from nerve endings, remains high in the cell bodies and nerve endings during this state of increased activity.
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PMID:Peptides and transmitter enzymes in hypothalamic magnocellular neurons after administration of hyperosmotic stimuli: comparison between messenger RNA and peptide/protein levels. 169 5

Indirect immunofluorescence histochemistry was used to investigate the distribution and extent of co-localization of chemical messengers in magnocellular neurons of the supraoptic and paraventricular nuclei. In order to increase the number of neurons immunoreactive to the antisera used, experimental manipulations were employed. The homozygous Brattleboro (diabetes insipidus) rat was also investigated. In untreated rats, only vasopressin- and oxytocin-like immunoreactivities could be observed. Colchicine treatment alone resulted in appearance of galanin-, dynorphin-, cholecystokinin-, [Leu]enkephalin- and thyrotropin-releasing hormone-positive cells. In hypophysectomized rats, all these markers, except tyrosine hydroxylase, showed substantial further increases. In addition, peptide histidine-isoleucine-immunoreactive cell bodies could now be seen. After salt-loading alone, tyrosine hydroxylase-like immunoreactivity was markedly increased, whereas vasopressin- and oxytocin-like immunoreactivity were very weak or undetectable. When salt-loaded rats received colchicine, corticotropin-releasing factor- and peptide histidine-isoleucine-like immunoreactivity in addition increased, whereas galanin- and dynorphin-like immunoreactivity markedly decreased. The Brattleboro rats resembled untreated rats, except their lack of vasopressin-like immunoreactivity, the marked increase in tyrosine hydroxylase-like immunoreactivity, and smaller increase in galanin- and dynorphin-like immunoreactivity. Addition of colchicine to Brattleboro rats resulted in some distinct further changes in that dynorphin-like immunoreactivity decreased in some neurons and that [Leu]enkephalin-, corticotropin-releasing factor- and peptide histidine-isoleucine-like immunoreactivity increased substantially. Several similarities could be observed between the salt-loaded and Brattleboro rats, with or without colchicine. However, a marked difference in immunoreactive [Leu]enkephalin levels was observed with no difference in dynorphin-like immunoreactivity, and opposite changes in galanin-like immunoreactivity. The results confirm the traditional view that hypothalamic magnocellular neurons in the supraoptic and paraventricular nuclei contain two separate cell populations, characterized by vasopressin and oxytocin, respectively, and that they contain additional messenger molecules in specific patterns. Vasopressin-containing neurons primarily express tyrosine hydroxylase, galanin, dynorphin, [Leu]enkephalin and peptide histidine-isoleucine, and to a minor extent cholecystokinin and thyrotropin-releasing hormone. Oxytocin-containing neurons mainly have cholecystokinin and corticotropin-releasing factor, and to a minor extent galanin, dynorphin, [Leu]enkephalin and thyrotropin-releasing hormone. Furthermore, our results detail individual co-existence situations among these putative messenger molecules. Thus, magnocellular neurons respond in a differential way to various stimuli and they store multiple bioactive substances in specific combinations.
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PMID:Localization of chemical messengers in magnocellular neurons of the hypothalamic supraoptic and paraventricular nuclei: an immunohistochemical study using experimental manipulations. 170 Oct 38

We examined the responses of vasopressin-neurons (VP-neurons) and oxytocin-neurons (OT-neurons) to acute salt-loading in a group of conscious rats (CON, n = 8) and rats under sodium pentobarbital (NEM, 50 mg/kg, i.p., n = 8) or urethane (URE, 1.6 g/kg, i.p. n = 8) anesthesia. Fifteen minutes following the induction of anesthesia, sodium pentobarbital produced an increase in basal plasma osmolality (Posm, 290 +/- 2 to 296 +/- 3 mosm/kg H2O, p less than 0.007) while urethane did not change basal Posm (287 +/- 2 to 289 +/- 2 mosm/kg H2O). Neither anesthetic agent resulted in any significant changes in basal plasma levels of vasopressin-associated neurophysin (VP-RNP) and oxytocin-associated neurophysin (OT-RNP). In response to intravenous infusion of 18% saline, all three groups of rats had similar rises in Posm. The slopes of the relationship between the rise in plasma VP-RNP and the rise in Posm were markedly reduced in both groups of anesthetized animals compared to that observed for conscious animals (CON = 2.54 +/- 0.5; NEM = 1.22 +/- 0.18; URE = 1.17 +/- 0.24 fmol.ml-1.mosm-1.kg H2O-1 p less than 0.0126). The slopes of the relationship between the rise in plasma OT-RNP and the rise in Posm were not significantly (p less than 0.4478) different between the CON group and the NEM group, while the slope for the URE group was significantly (p less than 0.05) smaller than that for the CON group (CON = 10.9 +/- 1.5; NEM = 9.3 +/- 1.5; URE = 6.3 +/- 0.7 fmol.ml-1.mosm-1.kg H2O-1).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:Influence of pentobarbital and urethane on release from magnocellular neurons. 174 63

Heat-stressed pregnant ewes deliver intrauterine growth-retarded lambs. Selected maternal and fetal changes were investigated during acute heat stress in order to elucidate the mechanism for this growth retardation. Uterine blood flow decreased 20 to 30% in pregnant ewes during 1 degree C increases in core temperature. The decreases were accompanied by 60 and 100% increases in serum oxytocin and antidiuretic hormone, respectively. These effects were mimicked by salt loading or injections of antidiuretic hormone or oxytocin, suggesting a role for either or both hormones in regulating uterine blood flow during pregnancy. Chronically heat-stressed pregnant ewes were delivered by Caesarean section. Their fetuses were approximately 20% smaller than thermoneutral controls. Within each pair of heat-stressed twins, one fetus weighted one-third less than its litter mate. No difference in weights were observed within the control twins. The livers and brains of the heat-stressed fetuses were disproportionate in size. The livers from the small heat-stressed twins contained only one-half the protein of the controls and one-fourth the protein of their litter mates. Muscle protein was decreased in the heat-stressed fetuses, and liver and muscle glycogen were elevated as were liver arginase, glutamate-pyruvate transaminase and muscle creatinine. These results are consistent with the following hypothesis: heat stress stimulates the release of maternal antidiuretic hormone or oxytocin, which reduces uterine blood flow and causes a shift in fetal metabolism from anabolic to catabolic pathways; one fetus of heat-stressed twins is more severely affected than its litter mate.
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PMID:Maternal endocrine and fetal metabolic responses to heat stress. 203 Jan 75

1. The measurement of cellular mRNA content by quantitative in situ hybridization is a valuable approach to the study of gene expression in brain since this tissue exhibits a high degree of phenotypic heterogeneity. 2. The cellular content of vasopressin and oxytocin mRNA in hypothalamo-neurohypophysial system neurons was altered by maintaining rats for 24 hr on 2% sodium chloride water. 3. Statistical and graphical techniques were then used to analyze cell by cell how mRNA levels were altered as a result of osmotic stimulation. We propose that the negative binomial probability distribution is a suitable model to describe how mRNA content varies across a defined cell population. For both measures of oxytocin and vasopressin mRNA levels, maximum-likelihood estimation indicated that this model adequately described empirical findings obtained from rats drinking tap water or salt water. 4. Both graphical and statistical analyses suggested how the defined neural system responds to osmotic stimulation: mRNA content was altered as a multiplicative function of "initial state." The utility and limitations of the quantitative approach are discussed.
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PMID:Quantitative in situ hybridization to measure single-cell changes in vasopressin and oxytocin mRNA levels after osmotic stimulation. 233 46

In rats, vasopressin- and oxytocin-encoding mRNAs are present in the posterior but absent in the anterior lobe of the pituitary gland. RNase protection experiments indicate that in the posterior pituitary and hypothalamus identical transcriptional start points are used. Furthermore, the two transcripts from posterior pituitary and hypothalamus show identical nucleotide sequences. Animals operated by paired electrical lesions in such a way that connections between the supraoptic nucleus (SON) and paraventricular nucleus (PVN) of the hypothalamus and the posterior pituitary lobe are destroyed continue to express the vasopressin and oxytocin gene in the hypothalamus but not in the posterior pituitary. Operated animals subjected to chronic intermittent salt loading for 6 days similarly contain vasopressin and oxytocin encoding transcripts in the hypothalamus but not in the posterior pituitary.
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PMID:Rats with physically disconnected hypothalamo-pituitary tracts no longer contain vasopressin-oxytocin gene transcripts in the posterior pituitary lobe. 233 37

We examined the effects of acute and chronic treatments with naloxone on release of vasopressin and oxytocin from the hypothalamoneurohypophyseal system (HNS) in conscious, chronically instrumented Long-Evans rats. Plasma concentrations of vasopressin-associated neurophysin and oxytocin-associated neurophysin were evaluated before and during an intravenous infusion of 18% saline at 100 microL.kg-1 body weight.min-1 for 60 min. Acute treatment with naloxone (2.75 mumol/kg, intravenous) did not measurably alter basal plasma osmolality or vasopressin-associated neurophysin concentration, but it caused a three-fold rise in basal plasma oxytocin-associated neurophysin concentration (16 +/- 2 to 46 +/- 3 fmol/mL, p less than 0.005). Chronic treatment with naloxone (13.75 mumol/day, subcutaneous pellets) increased plasma osmolality (292 +/- 1 to 300 +/- 2 mosmol/kg H2O, p less than 0.01) by day 5, but it had no measurable effects on basal vasopressin- or oxytocin-associated neurophysin concentration. There were also no significant differences in plasma sodium concentration (144.8 +/- 1.1 vs. 142.2 +/- 1.4 mequiv./L) under both conditions. Acute and chronic treatments with naloxone accompanied by salt loading produced a five- and four-fold decrease in the rates that plasma concentration of vasopressin-associated neurophysin changed with plasma osmolality, compared with untreated salt-loaded control rats. For oxytocin secretion from the HNS, both treatments accompanied by salt loading substantially decreased the threshold for changes in relation to plasma osmolality; the rise in plasma concentration of oxytocin-associated neurophysin was similar at all levels of hyperosmotic stimulation.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:Influence of opioid peptides on release from vasopressin and oxytocin neurones of the hypothalamoneurohypophyseal system: effects of naloxone in the conscious rat. 234 Apr 46

In early studies of salt transport across frog and toad skin, it was assumed that chloride movement is extracellular. However, later studies suggested that chloride movement is largely transcellular. Chloride transport across toad skin is greatly diminished in skins of salt-acclimated toads (Bufo viridis) and was correlated with the number of mitochondria-rich (m.r.) cells in the epithelium. The activated chloride conductance could be recovered upon in vitro incubation with theophylline. It was found that the short-circuit current (Isc) and the chloride conductance (Gcl) in toad skin could be separated experimentally by selective use of synthetic oxytocin (Syntocinon) or theophylline, and by substituting impermeable anions for chloride. With the use of the vibrating probe we demonstrated directly that chloride-dependent peak currents are localized only over m.r. cells, under hyperpolarized (V = -100 mV) conditions. It is concluded that the m.r. cells form the principal site for passive chloride movement across amphibian skin. This cellular pathway is regulated through a cyclic AMP-mediated process. It is suggested that the spatial separation of the sodium and chloride channels is essential to maintain the granulosum cells which are engaged in sodium transport hyperpolarized, and thus providing the driving force for the sodium entry into the cells.
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PMID:The role of mitochondria-rich cells in the chloride current conductance across toad skin. 242 66

Using indirect immunofluorescence methods and antisera raised against galanin (GAL) and vasopressin (VP), we have demonstrated both peptides coexisting in the very same cell bodies in the supraoptic and magnocellular paraventricular nuclei and the magnocellular accessory cells of the lateral hypothalamic area. Furthermore, dehydration and salt loading, which is known to cause release and depletion of VP and oxytocin from the neurohypophysis, also caused a marked reduction of GAL-like immunoreactivity in the posterior lobe of the pituitary but had no effect on hypothalamic GAL immunoreactivity. Systemically administered GAL caused a brief small increase in blood pressure with no effect on heart rate. A thousandfold molar concentration of GAL, compared of VP, was required to induce comparable effects on blood pressure. GAL itself had no modulatory effect on VP-induced pressor response. Systemically administered GAL resulted in mild diuresis whereas VP caused complete and sustained inhibition of diuresis. GAL had no effect on VP-induced anti-diuresis effects. The significance of the coexistence and corelease of GAL and VP remains to be elucidated.
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PMID:Galanin and vasopressin coexist in the rat hypothalamo-neurohypophyseal system. 246 88

We investigated the effect of forskolin on Cl- movements across the isolated epithelium of frog skin. With Cl- on both sides, forskolin (50 mumol/l) increased the transepithelial conductance considerably and elicited significant Cl- secretion. Establishing transepithelial Cl- gradients markedly increased the Cl- currents (ICl). During forskolin treatment, the power density spectra (PDS) of the fluctuation in transepithelial current contained a Lorentzian component that depended on the presence of Cl- in the bathing solutions. Mucosal as well as serosal diphenylamine-2-carboxylic acid (DPC; 1 mmol/l) partially depressed ICl as well as the Lorentzian noise component. Microelectrode recordings from cells involved in transepithelial Na+ absorption showed that forskolin activates gated Cl- channels in a cellular pathway in parallel with the Na+-transporting granulosum cells of the frog skin. The activation of the Cl- -dependent currents and Lorentzian noise was rather variable, and adaptation of the animals to solutions that contained 40 or 60 mmol/l NaCl increased the sensitivity to forskolin. In skins of salt-adapted animals, oxytocin (0.1 U/ml) also slightly activated the Cl- pathway. On the other hand, oxytocin and 8-(4-chlorophenylthio)adenosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate (CPT-cAMP; 1 mmol/l) were without effect in control skins.
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PMID:Forskolin activates gated Cl- channels in frog skin. 247 70


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