title: Regulation of autonomic nerve activities by central pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide.
abstract: Pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP) is a peptidergic neurotransmitter that is expressed in high levels in nervous systems. Here, we investigated the roles of PACAP in autonomic system regulation by evaluating the changes caused in the autonomic nerve activities after injecting PACAP into the central nervous system (CNS) and examining stress-induced blood glucose changes in PACAP-deficient (PACAP-/-) mice. Renal sympathetic nerve activity (RSNA), blood pressure, and heart rate were elevated after injecting PACAP into the third cerebral ventricle (3CV). Similarly, other sympathetic nerve activities, including adrenal sympathetic nerve activity (ASNA), celiac sympathetic nerve activity (CSNA), and brown adipose tissue sympathetic nerve activity (BAT-SNA), were accelerated by PACAP injection. In contrast, injecting PACAP into 3CV significantly suppressed parasympathetic nerve activities, including gastric vagal nerve activity (GVNA) and celiac vagal nerve activity (CVNA). In addition, blood glucose elevations induced by stress, such as immobilization or ether exposure, were disrupted in PACAP-/- mice, although basal glucose levels in mutants were comparable to that in wild-type mice. These results suggest that CNS PACAP regulates autonomic function by maintaining a sympathetic-parasympathetic balance and contributes to peripheral homeostatic maintenance, especially under conditions of stress.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Sciences, College of Life Sciences, Ritsumeikan University, 1-1-1 Nojihigashi, Kusatsu, Shiga, 525-8577, Japan. mtanida@sk.ritsumei.ac.jp
authors.forename: Mamoru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tanida
authors.forename: Norihito
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Shintani
authors.forename: Yoshiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Morita
authors.forename: Naohiro
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tsukiyama
authors.forename: Michiyoshi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hatanaka
authors.forename: Hitoshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hashimoto
authors.forename: Hajime
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sawai
authors.forename: Akemichi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Baba
authors.forename: Katsuya
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nagai
mesh_terms: D002001:Adipose Tissue, Brown / Q000294:innervation; D000818:Animals; D001786:Blood Glucose; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000187:drug effects; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000187:drug effects; D007668:Kidney / Q000294:innervation; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D010275:Parasympathetic Nervous System / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D051219:Pituitary Adenylate Cyclase-Activating Polypeptide / Q000172:deficiency / Q000235:genetics / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000502:physiology; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013270:Stomach / Q000294:innervation; D013564:Sympathetic Nervous System / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D001786:Blood Glucose; D051219:Pituitary Adenylate Cyclase-Activating Polypeptide