Lin S H, Miyata S, Matsunaga W, Kawarabayashi T, Nakashima T, Kiyohara T
Department of Applied Biology, Kyoto Institute of Technology, Matsugasaki, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606, Japan.
Brain Res. 1998 Mar 23;787(2):226-36. doi: 10.1016/s0006-8993(97)01484-4.
The present study was designed to investigate Fos-positive neurons of the female rat brain at various reproductive states in order to analyze the metabolic map connected with pregnancy, parturition and lactation. The number of Fos-positive neurons in each brain nucleus was analyzed with a quantitative immunohistochemical method in virgin, pregnant, parturient, lactating and arrested lactating rats. In parturient rats, a significant number of Fos-positive neurons was observed as compared to virgin or pregnant females in the following brain regions; the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BST), lateral septal nucleus (LS), medial preoptic area (MPA), periventricular hypothalamic nucleus (Pe), parvocellular paraventricular hypothalamic nucleus (PaPVN), magnocellular paraventricular hypothalamic nucleus (MaPVN), supraoptic nucleus (SON), paraventricular thalamic nucleus (PV), anterior hypothalamic area (AHA), lateral hypothalamic area (LH), amygdaloid nucleus (AM), supramammillary nucleus (SuM), substantia nigra (SN), central grey (CG), microcellular tegmental nucleus (MiTg), subparafascicular thalamic nucleus (SPF), posterior hypothalamic area (PH), dorsal raphe nucleus (DR), locus coeruleus (LC), dorsal parabrachial nucleus (DPB), nucleus of solitary tract (Sol), and ventrolateral medulla (VLM). Significant differences were found in the number of Fos-positive neurons between parturient and lactating females, although localization of Fos-positive neurons in lactating females was quite similar to parturient ones. Between parturient and lactating rats: (1) In the MPA, PaPVN, AHA, arcuate hypothalamic nucleus (Arc), ventromedial hypothalamic nucleus (VMH), MLT, and Ge, the number of Fos-positive neurons of lactating females were significantly higher than those of parturient ones; (2) In the LS, Pe, PV, LH, AM, SuM, CG, MiTg, SPF, PH, DR, LC, and VLM, there was no significant differences in the number of Fos-positive neurons; (3) In the BST, MaPVN, SON, SN, DPB and Sol, the number of Fos-positive neurons of lactating rats were significantly lower than those of parturient ones. These different patterns of Fos expression among many brain regions may be owing to the functional differences in each region. Fos expression in lactating rats was apparently induced by suckling stimulation because the removal of their litters immediately after parturition completely eliminated expression of Fos protein in each nucleus. These results suggest that the localization of Fos-positive neurons in a number of neural populations throughout the brain may be revealing the neural circuits in response to parturition or lactation.
本研究旨在调查处于不同生殖状态的雌性大鼠脑内的Fos阳性神经元，以分析与妊娠、分娩和哺乳相关的代谢图谱。采用定量免疫组织化学方法，对未孕、怀孕、分娩、哺乳和停止哺乳的大鼠脑内各核团中的Fos阳性神经元数量进行分析。在分娩大鼠中，与未孕或怀孕雌性相比，在以下脑区观察到大量Fos阳性神经元：终纹床核（BST）、外侧隔核（LS）、视前内侧区（MPA）、室旁下丘脑核（Pe）、下丘脑室旁核小细胞部（PaPVN）、下丘脑室旁核大细胞部（MaPVN）、视上核（SON）、丘脑室旁核（PV）、下丘脑前区（AHA）、下丘脑外侧区（LH）、杏仁核（AM）、乳头体上核（SuM）、黑质（SN）、中央灰质（CG）、被盖小细胞核（MiTg）、束旁丘脑核下核（SPF）、下丘脑后区（PH）、中缝背核（DR）、蓝斑（LC）、臂旁背核（DPB）、孤束核（Sol）和延髓腹外侧区（VLM）。尽管哺乳雌性大鼠中Fos阳性神经元的定位与分娩雌性大鼠非常相似，但在分娩和哺乳雌性大鼠之间，Fos阳性神经元数量存在显著差异。在分娩和哺乳大鼠之间：（1）在MPA、PaPVN、AHA、下丘脑弓状核（Arc）、下丘脑腹内侧核（VMH）、室周核（MLT）和外侧膝状体（Ge）中，哺乳雌性大鼠的Fos阳性神经元数量显著高于分娩雌性大鼠；（2）在LS、Pe、PV、LH、AM、SuM、CG、MiTg、SPF、PH、DR、LC和VLM中，Fos阳性神经元数量无显著差异；（3）在BST、MaPVN、SON、SN、DPB和Sol中，哺乳大鼠的Fos阳性神经元数量显著低于分娩大鼠。许多脑区中Fos表达的这些不同模式可能归因于每个区域的功能差异。哺乳大鼠中的Fos表达显然是由哺乳刺激诱导的，因为分娩后立即移除幼崽会完全消除每个核团中Fos蛋白的表达。这些结果表明，全脑多个神经群体中Fos阳性神经元的定位可能揭示了响应分娩或哺乳的神经回路。
