Author: Lungwitz, E.A.; Molosh, A.; Johnson, P.L.; Harvey, B.P.; Dirks, R.C.; Dietrich, A.; Minick, P.; Shekhar, A.; Truitt, W.A.
Description: The hypothalamic neuropeptide orexin (ORX) has been implicated in anxiety, and anxiety-like behaviors. The purpose of these studies was to determine the role of ORX, specifically orexin-A (ORX-A) in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) on anxiety-like behaviors in rats. Rats injected with ORX-A into the BNST displayed greater anxiety-like measures in the social interaction and elevated plus maze tests compared to vehicle treated controls. Such anxiety-like behaviors were not observed when the ORX-A injections were adjacent to the BNST, in the medial septum. The anxiety-inducing effects of direct infusions of ORX-A into the BNST may be a consequence of increased activation of BNST neurons. In BNST slice preparations using patch-clamp techniques, ORX-A induced membrane depolarization and generation of action potentials in a subset of BNST neurons. The anxiety-inducing effects of ORX-A in the BNST also appear to be dependent on NMDA-type glutamate receptor activity, as pre-injecting the NMDA antagonist AP5 into the BNST blocked anxiogenic effects of local ORX-A injections. Injections of AMPA-type receptor antagonists into the BNST prior to ORX-A resulted in only a partial attenuation of anxiety-like behaviors.
Subject headings: Animals; Anxiety/chemically induced/physiopathology; Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins/pharmacology; Male; Maze Learning/drug effects; Neuropeptides/pharmacology; Neurotransmitter Agents/pharmacology; Orexins; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Receptors, Glutamate/drug effects/physiology; Septal Nuclei/drug effects/physiology; Social Behavior
Keywords: Orexin-A induces anxiety-like behavior through interactions with glutamatergic receptors in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis of rats
Publication year: 2012
Journal or book title: Physiology & Behavior
Volume: 107
Issue: 5
Pages: 726-732
Find the full text : https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0031938412002065
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Type: Journal Article
Serial number: 2888