Angiotensin II type 1 (AT(1)) receptors are located on pressor neurons in the rostral ventrolateral medulla, and their activation results in an increase in arterial pressure. However, the normal role of these AT(1) receptors in cardiovascular regulation is unknown. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that these receptors mediate synaptic excitation of rostral ventrolateral medullary pressor...

Stimulation of acupuncture point Pc6, located above the median nerve, has been shown to be effective in treating nausea and vomiting. It has also frequently been reported to cause a heart rate reduction. The mechanism behind this autonomic reaction has not been clarified, so far. We combined brainstem-sensitive functional magnetic resonance imaging with heart rate recording and time-resolved ra...

The rostral and caudal parts of the ventrolateral medulla play a major role in the control of blood pressure. Both regions contain a high density of receptor binding sites for angiotensin II, and it has been shown previously that microinjection of angiotensin II into the rostral ventrolateral medulla causes a rise in blood pressure. The aims of this study were to determine the cardiovascular ef...

Corticotropin releasing factor (CRF), a peptide hormone involved in the stress response, holds a key position in cardiovascular regulation. Here, we report that the central effect of CRF on cardiovascular activities is mediated by the posterior hypothalamic nucleus (PH), an important structure responsible for stress-induced cardiovascular changes. Our present results demonstrate that CRF direct...

In the medulla oblongata of plethodontid salamanders, GABA-, glycine-, and glutamate-like immunoreactivity (ir) of neurons was studied. Combined tracing and immunohistochemical experiments were performed to analyze the transmitter content of medullary nuclei with reciprocal connections with the tectum mesencephali. The distribution of transmitters differed significantly between rostral and caud...

We compared the electrophysiological properties of neurons in the rostral ventrolateral medulla of neonatal angiotensin II type 1a receptor knockout mice and wild-type mice with responses to angiotensin II, its type-1 receptor blocker candesartan, and its type-2 receptor blocker PD123319. Using the whole-cell patch-clamp technique, we examined the characteristics of rostral ventrolateral medull...

Despite considerable interest in the neural mechanisms that regulate muscle blood flow, the descending pathways that control sympathetic outflow to skeletal muscles are not adequately understood. The present study mapped these pathways through the transneuronal transport of two recombinant strains of pseudorabies virus (PRV) injected into the gastrocnemius muscles in the left and right hindlimb...

Inflammation is portion of the body's immune response and it is basically a host protective response to tissue ischemia, injury, autoimmune responses or infectious agents. Although the information presented so far points to a detrimental role for inflammation in central nervous system (CNS) disease, it may also be useful. CNS demonstrates characteristic of inflammation, and in response to damag...

bstract—In the last 15 years a role has been ascribed for the edullary dorsal reticular nucleus as a supraspinal pain modlating area. The medullary dorsal reticular nucleus is reciproally connected with the spinal dorsal horn, is populated mainly y nociceptive neurons and regulates spinal nociceptive proessing. Here we analyze the distribution of brain projections rom the medullary dorsal retic...

During preliminary studies of the rostral ventrolateral medulla as a relay site for responses activated from forebrain, loss of the marked depressor effect of lidocaine, microinjected into lateral rostral ventrolateral medulla, was observed when rats were ventilated spontaneously rather than by artificial ventilation. The mechanism of this effect was studied in rats ventilated at a tidal volume...