Endocrine Abstracts

The hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVN) is a major regulatory centre of energy homeostasis by possessing the unique capability of simultaneously controlling endocrine axes, water balance and autonomic functions. It receives neuronal information form orexigenic and anorexigenic cell groups of the basal hypothalamus that monitor peripheral metabolic signals (leptin, insulin, ghrelin, glucose, glucocorticoids) and also from brainstem centers relaying sensory information fr...

The gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) neurosecretory system represents the final common hypothalamic pathway in the neuroendocrine control of reproduction. Changing levels of the ovarian sex steroid hormone 17β-estradiol (E2) tightly regulate the activity of GnRH cells via feedback actions. Recently, our group has localized the second isoform of estrogen receptors (ER-β) within GnRH neurons of the rat brain, indicating that GnRH cells are capable of di...

Type 1 cannabinoid receptor (CB1) is the principal receptor for endocannabinoids in the brain which mainly occurs in preterminal/terminal axons and mediates retrograde neuronal signaling mechanisms. A large body of physiological and electrophysiological evidence indicates the critical role of CB1 in the regulation of hypothalamic functions. Conversely, the distribution of CB1-containing axons in the hypothalamus is essentially unknown. Therefore, we have analyzed the distribut...