title: Lesions of the laterodorsal tegmental nucleus alter the cholinergic innervation and neuropeptide Y expression in the medial prefrontal cortex and nucleus accumbens.
abstract: The effects of the ibotenic acid infused into the area of the laterodorsal tegmental nucleus (LDT) of rats on the expression of cortical and accumbal neuropeptides were assessed. The effects of this manipulation were determined in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) by estimating the numerical density of varicosities immunoreactive for vesicular acetylcholine transporter and the total number of NAc neurons immunoreactive for choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) and neuropeptide Y (NPY) as well as the total number of mPFC neurons immunoreactive for NPY and vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP). In LDT-lesioned rats, the density of the cholinergic varicosities was reduced in the ventral divisions of the mPFC and in all divisions of the NAc. In addition, in these rats, the total number of NPY-immunoreactive neurons was reduced in all subregions of the mPFC and in the NAc. Conversely, the total number of VIP-immunoreactive neurons in the mPFC and of ChAT-immunoreactive neurons in the NAc did not differ between LDT- and sham-lesioned rats. These data provide the first direct evidence for a relationship between selective damage of LDT cholinergic neurons and decreased expression of NPY in the mPFC and NAc. They also reveal that different types of cortical and accumbal interneurons respond differently to the cholinergic denervation induced by LDT lesions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, Alameda Professor Hernâni Monteiro, 4200-319 Porto, Portugal; Center of Experimental Morphology (CME), Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, Alameda Professor Hernâni Monteiro, 4200-319 Porto, Portugal; Center for Health Technology and Services Research (CINTESIS), Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, Rua Dr. Plácido da Costa, 4200-450 Porto, Portugal. Electronic address: pedroper@med.up.pt.
authors.forename: P A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Pereira
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, Alameda Professor Hernâni Monteiro, 4200-319 Porto, Portugal; Center of Experimental Morphology (CME), Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, Alameda Professor Hernâni Monteiro, 4200-319 Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vilela
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, Alameda Professor Hernâni Monteiro, 4200-319 Porto, Portugal; Center of Experimental Morphology (CME), Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, Alameda Professor Hernâni Monteiro, 4200-319 Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sousa
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, Alameda Professor Hernâni Monteiro, 4200-319 Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Neves
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, Alameda Professor Hernâni Monteiro, 4200-319 Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Paula-Barbosa
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, Alameda Professor Hernâni Monteiro, 4200-319 Porto, Portugal; Center of Experimental Morphology (CME), Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, Alameda Professor Hernâni Monteiro, 4200-319 Porto, Portugal; Center for Health Technology and Services Research (CINTESIS), Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, Rua Dr. Plácido da Costa, 4200-450 Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: M D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Madeira
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002452:Cell Count; D002795:Choline O-Acetyltransferase / Q000378:metabolism*; D007051:Ibotenic Acid / Q000633:toxicity; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D009478:Neuropeptide Y / Q000378:metabolism*; D009714:Nucleus Accumbens / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D010784:Photomicrography; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013681:Tegmentum Mesencephali / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D014660:Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide / Q000378:metabolism; D050494:Vesicular Acetylcholine Transport Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D009478:Neuropeptide Y; D050494:Vesicular Acetylcholine Transport Proteins; D007051:Ibotenic Acid; D014660:Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide; D002795:Choline O-Acetyltransferase
keywords: acetylcholine; laterodorsal tegmental nucleus; medial prefrontal cortex; neuropeptide Y; nucleus accumbens; vasoactive intestinal polypeptide