Localization of corticotropin-releasing factor-containing neurons in the brain of the domestic fowl

Abstract

The corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF)-containing neurons were investigated in the brain of the domestic fowl by means of the peroxidase-antiperoxidase technique at the light-microscopic level. The detection of CRF-immunoreactivity was facilitated by silver intensification. CRF-containing perikarya were found in the paraventricular, preoptic and mammillary nuclei of the hypothalamus and in some extrahypothalamic areas (nuclei dorsomedialis and dorsolateralis thalami, nucleus accumbens septi, lobus parolfactorius, periaqueductal gray of the mesencephalon, nucleus oculomotorius ventralis). Immunoreactive nerve fibers and terminals were demonstrated in the external zone of the median eminence and the organum vasculosum of the lamina terminalis. These results indicate that an immunologically demonstrable CRF-neurosecretory system also exists in the avian central nervous system.

Corticotropin-releasing hormone-immunopositive nerve elements in apposition to chicken gonadotropin-releasing hormone I-containing perikarya in Japanese quail ( Coturnix coturnix japonica ) brain

“…The distribution of CRH agrees with reports of its distribution in pigeons (Bons et al 1988;Péczely and Antoni 1984) and chicken (Józsa et al 1984) and other reports in quail (Kovacs et al 1989;Viglietti-Panzica and Panzica 1991). One difference between this report and others is that we found CRH-ir neurons distributed more broadly throughout the telencephalon.…”

Regulation of behavioral responses by corticotropin-releasing factor

“…Although the extra-hypothalamic distribution of CRF in non-mammalian vertebrates has not received as much attention, it is clear that CRF-expressing neurons and Wbers are also present in extra-hypothalamic neuronal circuits in Wsh, (Coto-Montes et al, 1994;Zupanc et al, 1999), amphibians (Bhargava and Rao, 1993;Tonon et al, 1985), reptiles (Mancera et al, 1991), and birds (Ball et al, 1989;Bons et al, 1988;Jozsa et al, 1984;Knigge and Piekut, 1985;Panzica et al, 1986;Richard et al, 2004;Yamada and Mikami, 1985). Together these studies support the hypothesis that CRF, in addition to its hypophysiotrophic role, also functions as a neuromodulator within the central nervous system in representative species from all vertebrate classes.…”

Serotoninergic regulation of corticosterone secretion in domestic fowl

“…A similar mechanism is also thought to exist in birds (Stainer & Holmes, 1969;Salem, Norton & Nalbandov, 1970;Holmes, 1978) and a CRF-neurosecretory system has been demonstrated in the avian central nervous sys¬ tem by immunohistochemical techniques (Jozsa, Vigh, Schally & Mess, 1984). However, while brain monoamines, particularly serotonin, have been shown to act as neurotransmitters stimulating CRF release and ACTH secretion in mammals (Weiner & Ganong, 1978;McCann, Krulich, Ojeda et al 1979;Holmes, Di Renzo, Beckford et al 1982; Rivier & Plotsky, 1986), the neuroendocrine regulation of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenocortical axis in birds is still largely unknown.…”