RESUMO
Ghrelin is a novel brain-gut peptide and the endogenous ligand of growth hormone secretagogue receptor 1a (GHSR-1a). Evidences have been shown that ghrelin inhibited cell apoptosis in cardiocytes, endotheliocytes, osteoblasts, and so on. Recently, it was reported that ghrelin inhibited neuronal apoptosis of hypothalamus and hippocampus. However, little is known about the effects of ghrelin on cortical neurons during focal ischemia/reperfusion injury. In the present study, we showed that ghrelin (i.v.) prevented cortical neurons from injury induced by ischemia/reperfusion in vivo and by LPS, glutamate, NMDA and H(2)O(2) in vitro. We found that the expression of ghrelin's receptor (GHSR-1a) in rat cerebral cortex were obviously decreased by ischemia/reperfusion injury and increased by ghrelin (i.v.). Ghrelin up-regulated the expression of Bcl-2/Bax and HSP70, and inhibited caspase8, 9, 3 through GHSR-1a, which was contributed to the neuroprotective mechanism of ghrelin. Ghrelin might be an important regulator in therapeutic strategy of cortex injury.
Assuntos
Isquemia Encefálica/patologia , Neurônios/efeitos dos fármacos , Traumatismo por Reperfusão/patologia , Animais , Apoptose , Biomarcadores , Isquemia Encefálica/metabolismo , Caspases/metabolismo , Regulação da Expressão Gênica , Grelina , Masculino , Neurônios/metabolismo , Hormônios Peptídicos , Proteínas Proto-Oncogênicas c-bcl-2/metabolismo , Ratos , Ratos Sprague-Dawley , Receptores Acoplados a Proteínas G/genética , Receptores Acoplados a Proteínas G/metabolismo , Receptores de Grelina , Traumatismo por Reperfusão/metabolismo , Técnicas de Cultura de TecidosRESUMO
Ghrelin is a newly discovered brain-gut peptide and an endogenous ligand for growth hormone secretagogues receptor (GHS-R). Ghrelin and GHS-R present extensively in central and peripheral tissues such as stomach, brain and other organs of rodent and human, which suggest it has multiple biological effects. It has been reported that ghrelin has significant role in the regulation of energy homeostasis, food intake and appetite. The organization of central circuitry appears to play an important role in integrating orexigenic effects of ghrelin, but the detail is not fully clear. In this study, we examined the expression of ghrelin, ghrelin mRNA and GHS-R mRNA in cerebrum and brainstem by RT-PCR and immunofluorescence histochemistry, and analyzed the connection among the cerebral cortex, hypothalamus, dorsal vagal complex (DVC). The results showed that the positive staining of ghrelin was found on the pyramidal neuron of layer V in the sensorimotor area of cerebral cortex, cingulate gyrus, as well as in the neuron of lateral hypothalamus (LH), PVN and ARC. The expression of ghrelin mRNA and GHS-R mRNA were also found in the sensorimotor cortex and hypothalamus by method of RT-PCR. The GHS-R mRNA was also found in the DVC of medulla oblongata. Other finding is that the FG/ghrelin dual labeled neurons were found in LH of hypothalamus (not in cortex). The ghrelin-containing neuron in the LH projects its axon to the DVC with the method of retrograde tracing. In conclusion, the ghrelin neurons are located not only in hypothalamus (LH, PVN, ARC), but also in the cortex (sensorimotor area, cingular gyrus), and the fibers of ghrelin neurons in hypothalamus projected directly to the DVC. It suggests that ghrelin plays its role from hypothalamus to brainstem as a neurotransmitter or neuromodulator to regulate function of vagal nuclei in brainstem.