Estrogen regulates preproenkephalin-A mRNA levels in the rat ventromedial nucleus: temporal and cellular aspects

Priest, Catherine A.; Eckersell, Clair B.; Micevych, Paul E.

doi:10.1016/0169-328x(94)00213-x

Cited by 84 publications

(36 citation statements)

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“…Ovarectomy decreases and estrogen treatment increases the density of mu opioid receptors in the preoptic areas of the mouse and rat (Romano et al 1989). It has also been shown that proenkephalin gene contains cis regulatory elements regulated by estrogen (Priest et al 1995) and estrogen treatment increases proenkephalin expression in the ventral medial nucleus of the hypothalamus of female and male rats (Romano et al 1989;Priest et al 1995). Increases in opioid binding have been reported in animals ϩ90 (p ϭ .028) and ϩ120 (p ϭ .021).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 80%

Endogenous Opioid Activity Is Associated with Obsessive-Compulsive Symptomology in Individuals with a Family History of Alcoholism

Mangold

Peyrot

Giggey

et al. 2000

Neuropsychopharmacology

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Endogenous opioid activity has been associated with the regulation of mood and inhibition of the hypothalamicpituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. We assessed differences in psychological symptomology and naloxone sensitivity in non-alcoholic males and females with a family history of alcoholism (FHP) and without a family history of alcoholism (FHN).Family history of alcohol dependence is a strong predictor of risk for the future development of alcoholism (Goodwin 1985;Cloninger 1981;McGue et al. 1992). Adult sons of alcoholic fathers have a three to four-fold higher risk for this disorder compared to the male offspring of non-alcoholic fathers (Schuckit 1981).These findings have led investigators to examine the presence of a wide range of possible psychological as well as neurobiological mediators for the development of alcoholism in individuals with a positive family history (FHP) for alcoholism (Pihl et al. 1990;Martin and Sher 1994;Baker and Stephenson 1995). A wide range of psychological differences have been specifically associated with FHP males relative to controls, including impulsivity (Saunders and Schuckit 1981;Schulsinger et al. 1985), conduct disorder (Nylander and Rydelius 1982), antisocial personality with or without hyperactivity (Alterman et al. 1983), attention deficit disorder (Gillen and Hesselbrock 1992;Deckel et al. 1995), and aggressiveness (Windle 1990 NO . 6 family history for alcoholism compared with normals (Newlin and Thomson 1990;Schuckit et al. 1988Schuckit et al. ,1996Waltman et al. 1994).A growing body of literature suggests that the endogenous opioid system modulates a wide range of psychological symptomology, as well as the functioning of the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) axis (Pickar et al. 1982;Olson et al. 1996). It has been speculated that the interplay between environmental and genetic determinants generates a spectrum of endogenous opioid activity in the human population which, in the extreme ranges of opioid expression, lead to disturbances in mood, behavior and neuroendocrine function (Wand et al. 1998;Wand 1999;Blevins et al. 1994). Major behavioral alterations have been induced by opioid blockade with naloxone, suggesting the involvement of the endogenous opioid system in the tonic regulation of mood, behavior and cognition in normal (Cohen et al. 1983;Martin del Campo et al. 1992) and psychiatric populations (Insel and Pickar 1983;Sandyk 1987;Pickar et al. 1982). Some clinical studies suggest that in addition to the serotonergic system, the opioidergic system may be implicated in obsessive-compulsive symptomology (Carrion 1995;Insel and Pickar 1983;Keuler et al. 1996;Rapoport et al. 1992). Plasma B-endorphin levels have been found to be significantly lower in OCD subjects than in controls (Weizman et al. 1990). Studies with OCD subjects have shown naloxone decreases obsessional doubt and compulsive behaviors at low doses (Insel and Pickar 1983;Keuler et al. 1996) and decreases at higher doses (Sandyk 1987) in a small subgroup of subjects. Furthermore, opioid agent...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 80%

Endogenous Opioid Activity Is Associated with Obsessive-Compulsive Symptomology in Individuals with a Family History of Alcoholism

Mangold

Peyrot

Giggey

et al. 2000

Neuropsychopharmacology

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“…Considering the fact that estrogens also have the ability to stabilize mRNA, it is possible that the increase in preproenkephalin mRNA may be due to increased stability of the mRNA (Brock and Shapiro, 1983), but since studies on the induction of preproenkephalin heteronuclear RNA in the hypothalamus have indicated that estrogens have the ability to induce enkephalin gene expression , the increase is most likely mainly due to this effect and not to post-translational changes. The short time span of the estrogen-induced increase of spinal enkephalin transcription, which differs from the more sustained effect seen in the hypothalamus (Priest et al, 1995), also indicates that changes in pain sensitivity may follow physiologically occurring fluctuations in estrogen levels.…”

Section: Estrogen Receptor Neurons and The Endogenous Opioid Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition, hormones such as thyroid hormone and glucocorticoids may regulate the transcription of the preproenkephalin gene in the central nervous system (Ahima et al, 1992;Zhu et al, 1996). As will be described in more detail later, estrogens also have the ability to regulate enkephalin gene expression in certain brain regions (Priest et al, 1995;Romano et al, 1988).…”

Section: The Endogenous Opioid Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the forebrain and hypothalamus, estradiol administration to ovariectomized animals has been shown to increase preproenkephalin mRNA expression, the concentration of endogenous opioids, and the release of endogenous opioids (Eckersell et al, 1998;Hammer et al, 1993;Priest et al, 1995;Romano et al, 1988). There are functional EREs that bind ER located in the promoter region of the rat preproenkephalin gene (Zhu and Pfaff, 1995) indicating a putative direct regulatory effect of estrogens on enkephalin gene transcription.…”

Section: Estrogen Receptor Neurons and The Endogenous Opioid Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Estrogenic influences in pain processing

Amandusson

Blomqvist

2013

Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology

111

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Gonadal hormones not only play a pivotal role in reproductive behavior and sexual differentiation, they also contribute to thermoregulation, feeding, memory, neuronal survival, and the perception of somatosensory stimuli. Numerous studies on both animals and human subjects have also demonstrated the potential effects of gonadal hormones, such as estrogens, on pain transmission. These effects most likely involve multiple neuroanatomical circuits as well as diverse neurochemical systems and they therefore need to be evaluated specifically to determine the localization and intrinsic characteristics of the neurons engaged. The aim of this review is to summarize the morphological as well as biochemical evidence in support for gonadal hormone modulation of nociceptive processing, with particular focus on estrogens and spinal cord mechanisms.

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“…Analgesia The enkephalin gene is turned on rapidly, in female mouse and rat hypothalamic neurons, by estrogens, [45][46][47] within about 30 min, and this is proven by in vitro transcription assays to represent a hormone-facilitated transcriptional facilitation. 48 The route of action upon lordosis, of the enkephalin gene product, would theoretically be indirect, through other behaviors.…”

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confidence: 99%

Hormonal symphony: steroid orchestration of gene modules for sociosexual behaviors

Mong

Pfaff

2004

Mol Psychiatry

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Genes induced by estrogens in the mammalian forebrain influence a variety of neural functions. Among them, reproductive behavior mechanisms are very well understood. Their functional genomics provide a theoretical paradigm for linking genes to neural circuits to behavior. We propose that estrogen-induced genes are organized in modules: Growth of hypothalamic neurons; Amplification of the estrogen effect by progesterone; Preparative behaviors; Permissive actions on sex behavior circuitry; and Synchronization of mating behavior with ovulation. These modules may represent mechanistic routes for CNS management of successful reproduction. Moreover, new microarray results add estrogen-dependent genes, including some expressed in glia, suggesting possible hormone-dependent neuronal/ glial coordination. Molecular Psychiatry (2004) 9, 550-556. doi:10.1038/sj.mp.4001493Keywords: sex; estrogen; gene; hypothalamus; lordosis; arousal; noradrenalin; acetylcholine; oxytocin; enkephalin; opioid; GnRH; LHRH; neurotrophic; anxiety Sexual behaviors are important for psychiatry. Not only hypersexual disorders but also concerns about lack of sexual desire are prominent, internationally, in the psychiatric landscape. Further, in some traditions of psychiatric theory, sexual problems are held to be at the root of apparently unrelated syndromes. Finally, biological thought has held that sexual affiliations provide the bauplan, the structural precedent, for a wide variety of other social relations, both normal or abnormal. Fortunately, the molecular analysis of stereotyped sexual behaviors has benefited greatly from several strategic advantages: Even in mammals, simple stimuli and responses permit neural net analysis. Steroid hormones acting through nuclear receptors which are transcription factors invoke regulated gene expression, for example, in hypothalamic neurons.1 In turn, these neurons control mating behavior circuits.Drawing hormone-regulated gene expression into the explanation of mammalian sex behavior has proceeded rapidly. Here we theoretically propose a gene network-really, a micronet-downstream of estrogen action in the forebrain responsible for courtship and lordosis behavior in females. Not a massive review of the literature or an original data report, this paper comprises an attempt to draw different transcriptional systems into a new theoretical formulation. These efforts to explain hormone-driven behaviors have benefited from Rosenfeld's example of genetic network control over pituitary gland development.2 Both direct and indirect causal routes are depicted below.Causal routes, downstream from genomic action; a modular system emergent The primary sex behavior of female quadrupeds, lordosis, depends on defined physical signals: cutaneous stimuli and estrogens þ progestins 1 (E þ P). The neural circuit has been worked out; estrogen-dependent transcription in ventromedial hypothalamic cells allows permissive signals to the midbrain central gray, thus enabling the rest of the circuit. In the absence of fear or anxiety-pro...

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Estrogen regulates preproenkephalin-A mRNA levels in the rat ventromedial nucleus: temporal and cellular aspects

Cited by 84 publications

References 48 publications

Endogenous Opioid Activity Is Associated with Obsessive-Compulsive Symptomology in Individuals with a Family History of Alcoholism

Endogenous Opioid Activity Is Associated with Obsessive-Compulsive Symptomology in Individuals with a Family History of Alcoholism

Estrogenic influences in pain processing

Hormonal symphony: steroid orchestration of gene modules for sociosexual behaviors

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