Involvement of the Na, K-ATPase α1 Isoform and Endogenous Cardiac Steroids in Depression- and Manic-like Behaviors.

Bipolar disorder (BD) is a severe and common chronic mental illness characterized by recurrent mood swings between depression and mania. The biological basis of the disease is poorly understood, and its treatment is unsatisfactory. Na, K-ATPase is a major plasma membrane transporter and signal transducer.

Type 1 melanocortin receptors in pro-opiomelanocortin-, vasopressin-, and oxytocin-immunopositive neurons in different areas of mouse brain.

Information on the localization of the Type 1 melanocortin receptors (MC1Rs) in different regions of the brain is very scarce. As a result, the role of MC1Rs in the functioning of brain neurons and in the central regulation of physiological functions has not been studied. This work aimed to study the expression and distribution of MС1Rs in different brain areas of female C57Bl/6J mice.

The Leptin, Dopamine and Serotonin Receptors in Hypothalamic POMC-Neurons of Normal and Obese Rodents.

The pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC)-expressing neurons of the hypothalamic arcuate nucleus (ARC) are involved in the control of food intake and metabolic processes. It is assumed that, in addition to leptin, the activity of these neurons is regulated by serotonin and dopamine, but only subtype 2C serotonin receptors (5-HTR) was identified earlier on the POMC-neurons. The aim of this work was a comparative study of the localization and number of leptin receptors (LepR), types 1 and 2 dopamine receptors (DR, DR), 5-HTR and 5-HTR on the POMC-neurons and the expression of the genes encoding them in the ARC of the normal and diet-induced obese (DIO) rodents and the agouti mice (A /a) with the melanocortin obesity.

Metabolic parameters and functional state of hypothalamic signaling systems in A/a mice with genetic predisposition to obesity and the effect of metformin.

The metabolic parameters and functional state of hypothalamic systems in mice with the Yellow mutation in the Agouti locus and with obesity of the melanocortin type and the effect of metformin (MF) treatment (9 days, 200 mg/kg/day) were studied. The MF treatment led to decreased body weight and to normalization of glucose tolerance in mice. In the hypothalamus, MF restored the decreased activity of Akt kinase, the main component of leptin pathway, and normalized the increased expression of subtype 1B serotonin receptor.

Localization of the dopamine receptors of types 1 and 2 on the bodies of POMC-expressing neurons of the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus in mice and rats.

Using immunofluorescent techniques, we have demonstrated the presence of two main types of dopamine receptors, D1 and D2, on the bodies of neurons of the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus expressing the precursor of peptides of the melanocortin family proopiomelanocortin in C57Bl/6J mice and Wistar rats. These data show close functional relationship between the dopamine and melanocortin systems of the brain and involvement of dopamine in the control of synthesis and secretion of peptides of the melanocortin family.