The hormone ghrelin displays several well-characterized functions, including some with pharmaceutical interest. The receptor for ghrelin, the growth hormone secretagogue receptor (GHSR), is expressed in the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVH), a critical hub for the integration of metabolic, neuroendocrine, autonomic and behavioral functions. Here, we performed a neuroanatomical and functional characterization of the neuronal types mediating ghrelin actions in the PVH of male mice. We found that fluorescent-ghrelin mainly labels PVH neurons immunoreactive for nitric oxide synthase 1 (NOS1, which catalyze the production of nitric oxide - NO). Centrally-injected ghrelin increases c-Fos in NOS1 PVH neurons and NOS1 phosphorylation in the PVH. We also found that a high dose of systemically-injected ghrelin increases ghrelin level in the cerebrospinal fluid and in the periventricular PVH, and induces c-Fos in NOS1 PVH neurons. Such high dose of systemically-injected ghrelin activates a subset of NOS1 PVH neurons, which does not express oxytocin, via an arcuate nucleus-independent mechanism. Finally, we found that pharmacological inhibition of NO production fully abrogates ghrelin-induced increase of calcium concentration in corticotropin-releasing hormone neurons of the PVH whereas it partially impairs ghrelin-induced increase of plasma glucocorticoid levels. Thus, plasma ghrelin can directly target a subset of NO-producing neurons of the PVH that is involved in ghrelin-induced activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal neuroendocrine axis.
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 9. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 22 October 2023.
All research outputs
#5,343,829
of 32,317,188 outputs
Outputs from Endocrinology
#1,682
of 14,042 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#67,369
of 378,910 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Endocrinology
#8
of 32 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 32,317,188 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done well and is in the 83rd percentile: it's in the top 25% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 14,042 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a little more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 5.7. This one has done well, scoring higher than 88% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 378,910 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done well, scoring higher than 82% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 32 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done well, scoring higher than 75% of its contemporaries.
