Abstract
The hormone ghrelin displays several well-characterized functions, including some with pharmaceutical interest. The receptor for ghrelin, the growth hormone secretagogue receptor (GHSR), is expressed in the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVH), a critical hub for the integration of metabolic, neuroendocrine, autonomic and behavioral functions. Here, we performed a neuroanatomical and functional characterization of the neuronal types mediating ghrelin actions in the PVH of male mice. We found that fluorescent-ghrelin mainly labels PVH neurons immunoreactive for nitric oxide synthase 1 (NOS1, which catalyze the production of nitric oxide - NO). Centrally-injected ghrelin increases c-Fos in NOS1 PVH neurons and NOS1 phosphorylation in the PVH. We also found that a high dose of systemically-injected ghrelin increases ghrelin level in the cerebrospinal fluid and in the periventricular PVH, and induces c-Fos in NOS1 PVH neurons. Such high dose of systemically-injected ghrelin activates a subset of NOS1 PVH neurons, which does not express oxytocin, via an arcuate nucleus-independent mechanism. Finally, we found that pharmacological inhibition of NO production fully abrogates ghrelin-induced increase of calcium concentration in corticotropin-releasing hormone neurons of the PVH whereas it partially impairs ghrelin-induced increase of plasma glucocorticoid levels. Thus, plasma ghrelin can directly target a subset of NO-producing neurons of the PVH that is involved in ghrelin-induced activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal neuroendocrine axis.