title: Paraventricular nucleus neuropeptide expression in Huntington's disease patients.
abstract: Neuroendocrine, metabolic and autonomic nervous system dysfunctions are prevalent among patients with Huntington's disease (HD) and may underlie symptoms such as depression, weight loss and autonomic failure. Using post-mortem paraffin-embedded tissue, we assessed the integrity of the major neuropeptide populations in the paraventricular nucleus (PVN)-the hypothalamic neuroendocrine and autonomic integration center-in HD patients. The number corticotropin-releasing hormone, cocaine- and amphetamine-regulated transcript, arginine vasopressin and oxytocin immunoreactive (ir) neurons did not differ between HD patients and control subjects. However, the significant positive correlation between arginine vasopressin and oxytocin ir neurons in control subjects (P = 0.036) was absent in patients. Corticotropin-releasing hormone mRNA levels were 68% higher in HD patients (P = 0.046). Thyrotropin-releasing hormone mRNA levels did not differ between HD patients and control subjects, although a negative correlation with disease duration was present in the former (P = 0.036). These findings indicate that the PVN is largely unaffected in HD patients. However, our findings suggest that hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid axis activity may alter during the course of the disease and that autonomic nervous system dysfunction might partly arise from an imbalance between arginine vasopressin and oxytocin neurons in the PVN.
authors.affiliation: Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, an Institute of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, Amsterdam ZO, The Netherlands. d.j.van_wamelen@lumc.nl
authors.forename: Daniel J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: van Wamelen
authors.forename: N Ahmad
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Aziz
authors.forename: Jasper J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Anink
authors.forename: Raymund A C
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Roos
authors.forename: Dick F
authors.initials: DF
authors.lastname: Swaab
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001127:Arginine Vasopressin / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D003346:Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006816:Huntington Disease / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism; D009479:Neuropeptides / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D010121:Oxytocin / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D010286:Paraventricular Hypothalamic Nucleus / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D000098882:Cocaine- and Amphetamine-Regulated Transcript Protein
chemical_list: D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D009479:Neuropeptides; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D000098882:Cocaine- and Amphetamine-Regulated Transcript Protein; D001127:Arginine Vasopressin; D010121:Oxytocin; D003346:Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone