Dorsomedial hindbrain catecholamine regulation of hypothalamic astrocyte glycogen metabolic enzyme protein expression: Impact of estradiol.

The brain astrocyte glycogen reservoir is a vital energy reserve and, in the cerebral cortex, subject among other factors to noradrenergic control. The ovarian steroid estradiol potently stimulates nerve cell aerobic respiration, but its role in glial glycogen metabolism during energy homeostasis or mismatched substrate supply/demand is unclear. This study examined the premise that estradiol regulates hypothalamic astrocyte glycogen metabolic enzyme protein expression during normo- and hypoglycemia in vivo through dorsomedial hindbrain catecholamine (CA)-dependent mechanisms. Individual astrocytes identified in situ by glial fibrillary acidic protein immunolabeling were laser-microdissected from the ventromedial hypothalamic (VMH), arcuate hypothalamic (ARH), and paraventricular hypothalamic (PVH) nuclei and the lateral hypothalamic area (LHA) of estradiol (E)- or oil (O)-implanted ovariectomized (OVX) rats after insulin or vehicle injection, and pooled within each site. Stimulation [VMH, LHA] or suppression [PVH, ARH] of basal glycogen synthase (GS) protein expression by E was reversed in the former three sites by caudal fourth ventricular pretreatment with the CA neurotoxin 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA). E diminished glycogen phosphorylase (GP) protein profiles by CA-dependent [VMH, PVH] or -independent mechanisms [LHA]. Insulin-induced hypoglycemia (IIH) increased GS expression in the PVH in OVX+E, but reduced this protein in the PVH, ARH, and LHA in OVX+O. Moreover, IIH augmented GP expression in the VMH, LHA, and ARH in OVX+E and in the ARH in OVX+O, responses that normalized by 6-OHDA. Results demonstrate site-specific effects of E on astrocyte glycogen metabolic enzyme expression in the female rat hypothalamus, and identify locations where dorsomedial hindbrain CA input is required for such action. Evidence that E correspondingly increases and reduces basal GS and GP in the VMH and LHA, but augments the latter protein during IIH suggests that E regulates glycogen content and turnover in these structures during glucose sufficiency and shortage.

Hindbrain medulla catecholamine cell group involvement in lactate-sensitive hypoglycemia-associated patterns of hypothalamic norepinephrine and epinephrine activity.

Cell-type compartmentation of glucose metabolism in the brain involves trafficking of the oxidizable glycolytic end product, l-lactate, by astrocytes to fuel neuronal mitochondrial aerobic respiration. Lactate availability within the hindbrain medulla is a monitored function that regulates systemic glucostasis as insulin-induced hypoglycemia (IIH) is exacerbated by lactate repletion of that brain region. A2 noradrenergic neurons are a plausible source of lactoprivic input to the neural gluco-regulatory circuit as caudal fourth ventricular (CV4) lactate infusion normalizes IIH-associated activation, e.g. phosphorylation of the high-sensitivity energy sensor, adenosine 5'-monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK), in these cells. Here, we investigated the hypothesis that A2 neurons are unique among medullary catecholamine cells in directly screening lactate-derived energy. Adult male rats were injected with insulin or vehicle following initiation of continuous l-lactate infusion into the CV4. Two hours after injections, A1, C1, A2, and C2 neurons were collected by laser-microdissection for Western blot analysis of AMPKα1/2 and phosphoAMPKα1/2 proteins. Results show that AMPK is expressed in each cell group, but only a subset, e.g. A1, C1, and A2 neurons, exhibit increased sensor activity in response to IIH. Moreover, hindbrain lactate repletion reversed hypoglycemic augmentation of pAMPKα1/2 content in A2 and C1 but not A1 cells, and normalized hypothalamic norepinephrine and epinephrine content in a site-specific manner. The present evidence for discriminative reactivity of AMPK-expressing medullary catecholamine neurons to the screened energy substrate lactate implies that that lactoprivation is selectively signaled to the hypothalamus by A2 noradrenergic and C1 adrenergic cells.