We aimed to study the consequences of chronic exposure to tobacco smoke in utero on the morphological and functional maturation of the brainstem by comparing stillbirths of smoker mothers versus nonsmoker mothers. A total of 42 stillbirths, aged 25-40 gestational weeks, underwent autopsy according to our guidelines (). The brainstem was studied on serial sections and by immunohistochemistry to ...

Ghrelin is a 28-amino acid peptide hormone secreted from the stomach that acts as a gut-brain peptide with potent stimulatory effects on food intake. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of peripheral ghrelin (1 and 10 nmol/rat) injected intraperitoneally (i.p.) on food intake and neuronal activity in the hypothalamus and brain stem, as assessed by c-Fos-like-immunoreacti...

Neuropeptide Y (NPY) produced in neurons in the arcuate nucleus and brain stem and released in the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) and surrounding areas is involved in stimulation of feeding in rats. We recently reported that gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is coexpressed in a subpopulation of NPY neurons in the arcuate nucleus. To determine whether GABA is colocalized in NPY terminals in the PVN,...

Estradiol is one of the most important hormones in the regulation of estrous behavior, which is at a very low level of expression in the modern dairy cow. In the present study the neuroanatomical distribution of estrogen receptors of the a-subtype (ER-a) in the bovine hypothalamic area is determined with immunocytochemical methods, at various stages of the estrous cycle. During the luteal phase...

Progesterone powerfully inhibits GnRH secretion in ewes, as in other species, but the neural mechanisms underlying this effect remain poorly understood. Visualization of the neural ovine progesterone receptor has proved elusive but, using a high temperature antigen unmasking technique, the progesterone receptor was revealed in the ewe brain. Progesterone receptors were located in the preoptic-h...