Dahl Stephanie K, Amstalden Marcel, Coolen Lique, Fitzgerald Maureen, Lehman Michael
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA.
Reprod Sci. 2009 Aug;16(8):781-7. doi: 10.1177/1933719109336619. Epub 2009 May 27.
Dynorphin, an endogenous opioid peptide, mediates progesterone-negative feedback on gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) neurons in other species. The role of dynorphin in humans is unclear. The objective of this study was to determine if dynorphin fibers have close contacts with GnRH neurons in humans. Dual-label immunocytochemistry was performed on postmortem human hypothalamic tissue. The majority of GnRH neurons, 87.5%, had close contacts with dynorphin fibers and multiple close contacts were common, 62.5%. There were no regional differences between the hypothalamus and preoptic area in the distribution of close contacts. More close contacts were identified on the GnRH dendrites compared to the cell bodies (P < .001), but this difference was not significant when corrected for length. In conclusion, dynorphin fibers form close contacts with GnRH neurons in humans. This neuroanatomical evidence may suggest that dynorphin has effects on GnRH regulation in humans as seen in other species.
强啡肽是一种内源性阿片肽，在其他物种中介导孕酮对促性腺激素释放激素（GnRH）神经元的负反馈作用。强啡肽在人类中的作用尚不清楚。本研究的目的是确定强啡肽纤维是否与人类GnRH神经元有紧密接触。对人类下丘脑尸检组织进行了双标免疫细胞化学实验。大多数GnRH神经元（87.5%）与强啡肽纤维有紧密接触，且多个紧密接触很常见（62.5%）。下丘脑和视前区在紧密接触分布上没有区域差异。与细胞体相比，在GnRH树突上发现了更多的紧密接触（P < 0.001），但校正长度后这种差异并不显著。总之，强啡肽纤维与人类GnRH神经元形成紧密接触。这一神经解剖学证据可能表明，强啡肽在人类中对GnRH调节有作用，如同在其他物种中所见。
