Obesity increases sympathetic nerve activity (SNA) via activation of proopiomelanocortin neurons in the arcuate nucleus (ArcN), and this action requires simultaneous withdrawal of tonic neuropeptide Y (NPY) sympathoinhibition. However, the sites and neurocircuitry by which NPY decreases SNA are unclear. Here, using designer receptors exclusively activated by designer drugs (DREADDs) to selectively activate or inhibit ArcN NPY neurons expressing agouti-related peptide (AgRP) in mice, we have demonstrated that this neuronal population tonically suppresses splanchnic SNA (SSNA), arterial pressure, and heart rate via projections to the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) and dorsomedial hypothalamus (DMH
The Journal of Clinical Investigation
R E S E A R C H A R T I C L E2 8 6 9 jci.org Volume 127 Number 7 July 2017We next tested whether selective excitation or inhibition of ArcN NPY/AgRP neurons alters splanchnic SNA (SSNA), mean AP (MAP), or heart rate (HR) ( Figure 1). As shown in representative experiments ( Figure 1, A and B) and grouped data ( Figure 1C), in ArcN hM3Dq mice, i.p. CNO (0.3 mg/kg) promptly decreased SSNA, MAP, and HR, whereas i.p. saline had no effects. The suppression induced by CNO was sustained for at least 1 hour, and, in mice with longer recordings, up to 4 hours (data not shown). In rats, guinea pigs, and humans, CNO can have nonspecific effects due to its conversion to clozapine (17, 18). However, in WT mice receiving the Cre-dependent hM3Dq vector, neither i.p. saline nor CNO significantly altered these variables, suggesting that CNO was not exerting its effects independently of DREADD activation. A separate group of Agrp-IRES-Cre mice instead received AAV-hM4Di-mCherry in the ArcN (Figure 1, D-F). In these ArcN hM4Di mice, i.p. CNO (0.3 and 1 mg/kg) dose-dependently increased SSNA, MAP, and HR, although the responses developed both NPY-GFP and Cre in AgRP neurons. In agreement with an earlier study using a different approach (14), we found that while not all NPY-GFP neurons had visible hM3Dq-mCherry labeling, 100% of the hM3Dq-mCherry-marked neurons also expressed NPY-GFP (Supplemental Figure 1; supplemental material available online with this article; https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI92008DS1). WT mice never expressed the Cre-dependent DREADD. In a second set of experiments, 2 or more weeks after Agrp-IRES-Cre mice received hM3Dq bilaterally in the ArcN, CNO (0.3 mg/kg) or the saline vehicle was administered i.p., and food intake was monitored for the following 4 hours. As shown previously (14), i.p. CNO, but not saline, rapidly evoked food intake in ArcN hM3Dq mice (Supplemental Figure 1). Conversely, activation of inhibitory DREADDs in ArcN hM4Di mice at the beginning of the feeding period (lights out) inhibited food intake (Supplemental Figure 1). Therefore, we anatomically and functionally confirm that this approach selectively targets ArcN NPY/AgRP neurons.
The Journal of Clinical Investigation R E S E A R C H A R T I C L E2 8 7 0jci.org Volume 127 Number 7 July 2017neurons were also observ...