A subset of neurons in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus directly project to liver-related premotor neurons in the ventrolateral medulla.

Sympathetic circuits including pre-sympathetic neurons in the ventrolateral medulla (VLM) and in the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) of the hypothalamus play an important role in the regulation of hepatic glucose metabolism. Despite the importance of central regulatory pathways, specific information regarding the circuits of liver-related neurons is limited. Here, we tested the hypothesis that PVN neurons are directly connected to spinally-projecting liver-related neurons in the VLM of mice.