title: A role for nitric oxide in the median eminence and arcuate nucleus response to capsaicin treatment in rats.
abstract: This study examined a possible functional involvement of nitric oxide (NO) in the median eminence (ME) and arcuate nucleus (ARC) after capsaicin treatment in rats. Subcutaneous injection of capsaicin increased nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate diaphorase (NADPH-d) activity in the ARC-ME compared with vehicle treatment. Fos expression was increased in the ARC after capsaicin injection compared with vehicle-treated rats. Pretreatment with the NO synthase (NOS) inhibitor, N(omega)-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) attenuated the effect of capsaicin on Fos expression and NADPH-d reactivity in the ARC-ME in comparison with rats injected with D-NAME, the inactive stereoisomer of L-NAME. These observations suggest that NO makes a major contribution to the response of the ARC-ME to a stressor such as capsaicin.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, Kochi Medical School, Nankoku, Japan.
authors.forename: C O
authors.initials: CO
authors.lastname: Okere
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kaba
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Higuchi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001111:Arcuate Nucleus of Hypothalamus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D002211:Capsaicin / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008058:Dihydrolipoamide Dehydrogenase / Q000378:metabolism; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000187:drug effects; D016762:Genes, fos; D007279:Injections, Subcutaneous; D008297:Male; D008473:Median Eminence / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D019331:NG-Nitroarginine Methyl Ester / Q000494:pharmacology*; D009569:Nitric Oxide / Q000502:physiology*; D019001:Nitric Oxide Synthase / Q000378:metabolism*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013237:Stereoisomerism
chemical_list: D009569:Nitric Oxide; D019001:Nitric Oxide Synthase; D008058:Dihydrolipoamide Dehydrogenase; D002211:Capsaicin; D019331:NG-Nitroarginine Methyl Ester