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W F Ganong

Publications and source records attributed to W F Ganong.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1998

Angiotensin II receptor binding sites in the ventral portion of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis are reduced by interruption of the medial forebrain bundle.

Many techniques have been utilized to discern the localization of angiotensin II (Ang II) receptors to specific cellular components (glia, neuronal cell bodies and nerve terminals) in the brain. In the present study, we used lesioning techniques to localize Ang II receptors to cellular components in the rat forebrain. In the first experiment, axons ascending to the hypothalamus and forebrain from neurons in the brainstem were destroyed by unilaterally cutting the medial forebrain bundle (MFB). In the second experiment, a single injection of the neurotoxin, ibotenic acid, was injected unilaterally into the ventral portion of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BSTV) to destroy neuronal cell bodies, thus determining if Ang II receptors are present on neuronal cell bodies. In both experiments, the animals were sacrificed after two weeks recovery and the brains processed for in vitro receptor autoradiography using 125I-sar1,ile8 Ang II (125I-SI Ang II). Unilateral knife-cut lesions of the MFB caused a significant reduction in 125I-SI Ang II binding in the BSTV (30+/-6%) and the piriform cortex (PC; 26+/-4%) ipsilateral to the knife cut. Unilateral injection of the neurotoxin into the BSTV failed to alter 125I-SI Ang II binding in this nucleus. These experiments suggest that at least a subpopulation of Ang II receptors in the BSTV and PC are located on terminals of neurons that have their cell bodies in the brainstem and their axons in the MFB.

Animals↗
PubMed1995

Reproduction and the renin-angiotensin system.

A unique aspect of the circulating renin-angiotensin system and the many independent tissue renin-angiotensin systems is their interactions at multiple levels with reproduction. These interactions, which have received relatively little attention, include effects of estrogens and possibly androgens on hepatic and renal angiotensinogen mRNA; effects of androgens on the Ren-2 gene and salivary renin in mice; the prorenin surge that occurs with but outlasts the LH surge during the menstrual cycle; the inhibitory effects of estrogens on thirst and water intake; the tissue renin-angiotensin systems in the brain, the anterior pituitary, and the ovaries and testes, that is, in all the components of the hypothalamo-pituitary-gonadal axis; the presence of some components of the renin-angiotensin system in the uterus and the fetoplacental unit; and the possible relation of renin and angiotensin to ovulation and fetal well-being. These interactions are described and their significance considered in this short review.

Animals↗
PubMed1994

Origin of the angiotensin II secreted by cells.

Circulating angiotensin II is unique in that it is formed in the blood by the interaction of circulating proteins. There are in addition many local renin-angiotensin systems in tissues in which angiotensin II is apparently secreted by various types of cells. This brief review considers the possible pathways for synthesis of locally produced angiotensin II in the brain, the anterior pituitary, the testes, the ovaries, the adrenal cortex, the kidneys, the heart, blood vessel walls, and brown and white fat. Synthesis by cells in culture is also reviewed. The possibility that certain cells contain a complete intracellular renin-angiotensin system is not ruled out, but there are problems with this hypothesis. Proteases other than renin may be involved, and there may be different pathways in different tissues. However, it appears that at least in some tissues, angiotensinogen is produced in one population of cells and transported in a paracrine fashion to other renin-containing cells, where it serves as the substrate for production of angiotensin II.

Adipose Tissue, Brown↗
PubMed1994

Intravenous losartan inhibits the increase in plasma luteinizing hormone and water intake produced by intraventricular angiotensin II.

In the presence of sex hormones, intraventricular injection of angiotensin II in female rats increases luteinizing hormone (LH) secretion, and this response is blocked by intraventricular losartan. There is evidence that in doses of 3 mg/kg or more systemically administered losartan blocks brain as well as peripheral AT1 angiotensin II receptors. Therefore, we tested the effect of intravenous losartan, 1 and 10 mg/kg, on the LH response to intraventricular angiotensin II in ovariectomized rats treated with estrogen and progesterone. The larger dose of losartan abolished the LH response. It also produced a marked reduction in the drinking response to intraventricular angiotensin II. The data provide additional evidence that in larger doses, peripherally administered losartan can penetrate the brain, and support the hypothesis that in female rats, the brain renin-angiotensin system plays an excitatory role in the regulation of LH secretion.

Angiotensin II↗
PubMed1993

Blood, pituitary, and brain renin-angiotensin systems and regulation of secretion of anterior pituitary gland.

In addition to increasing blood pressure, stimulating aldosterone and vasopressin secretion, and increasing water intake, angiotensin II affects the secretion of anterior pituitary hormones. Some of these effects are direct. There are angiotensin II receptors on lactotropes and corticotropes in rats, and there may be receptors on thyrotropes and other secretory cells. Circulating angiotensin II reaches these receptors, but angiotensin II is almost certainly generated locally by the pituitary renin-angiotensin system as well. There are also indirect effects produced by the effects of brain angiotensin II on the secretion of hypophyseotropic hormones. In the anterior pituitary of the rat, the gonadotropes contain renin, angiotensin II, and some angiotensin-converting enzyme. There is debate about whether these cells also contain small amounts of angiotensinogen, but most of the angiotensinogen is produced by a separate population of cells and appears to pass in a paracrine fashion to the gonadotropes. An analogous situation exists in the brain. Neurons contain angiotensin II and probably renin, but most angiotensin-converting enzyme is located elsewhere and angiotensinogen is primarily if not solely produced by astrocytes. Angiotensin II causes secretion of prolactin and adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) when added to pituitary cells in vitro. Paracrine regulation of prolactin secretion by angiotensin II from the gonadotropes may occur in vitro under certain circumstances, but the effects of peripheral angiotensin II on ACTH secretion appear to be mediated via the brain and corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH). In the brain, there is good evidence that locally generated angiotensin II causes release of norepinephrine that in turn stimulates gonadotropin-releasing hormone-secreting neurons, increasing circulating luteinizing hormone. In addition, there is evidence that angiotensin II acts in the arcuate nuclei to increase the secretion of dopamine into the portal-hypophyseal vessels, inhibiting prolactin secretion. Central as well as peripheral angiotensin II increases CRH secretion, but there is little if any evidence that angiotensin II mediates the ACTH responses to other stressful stimuli.

Angiotensin II↗
PubMed1991

Effect of head-up tilt on vasopressin secretion and arterial pressure in anesthetized rats.

The effect of 45 or 60 degrees head-up tilt on plasma arginine vasopressin (AVP) concentration, mean arterial pressure, and heart rate was studied in inactin-anesthetized rats. In all rats, there was a fall in blood pressure that was maximal within about 20-40 s and then returned toward normal. After 45 degrees head-up tilt for 30 min, AVP was increased from 7.0 +/- 1.7 to 21.0 +/- 5.9 pg/ml. Sixty-degree head-up tilt increased AVP at 5, 15, and 30 min, respectively, from 10.6 +/- 2.9 to 22.1 +/- 4.8 pg/ml, from 10.6 +/- 2.5 to 28.5 +/- 5.3, and from 16.1 +/- 4.7 to 62.6 +/- 10.3 pg/ml. After bilateral cervical vagotomy, 60 degrees head-up tilt for 30 min increased AVP, but the change was significantly reduced compared to intact animals. Bilateral sinoaortic denervation increased basal values of AVP, and there was no further increase during tilt. Bilateral electrolytic lesions of the hypothalamic paraventricular nuclei caused only a moderate reduction in the AVP response to tilt. When the effect of endogenous angiotensin II was antagonized by saralasin or its production was blocked by enalapril, the AVP response to tilt was reduced. The mean arterial pressure fell during the 1st min, but recovered rapidly when rats treated with a V1 vasopressin receptor antagonist were tilted. The data indicate that head-up tilt increases AVP secretion in anesthetized rats, that the response is mediated by the vagus and particularly by the arterial baroreceptors, and that circulating angiotensin II contributes to the response. However, the increased circulating AVP is not necessary for the maintenance of arterial pressure.

Anesthesia↗
PubMed1991

Neuroendocrine regulation of plasma angiotensinogen.

In previous studies we found that plasma angiotensinogen levels were reduced by lesions of the hypothalamic paraventricular nuclei. To determine if the decrease was caused by decreased secretion of hormones that normally stimulate angiotensinogen secretion by the liver, we correlated the changes in plasma angiotensinogen produced by paraventricular lesions with changes in plasma LH, ACTH, and thyroid hormones; compared the changes in plasma angiotensinogen and other hormones to those produced by hypophysectomy; and determined the effects of treatment with ACTH and T4 in animals with paraventricular lesions. In male Sprague-Dawley rats, bilateral lesions destroying more than 50% of the paraventricular nuclei decreased plasma angiotensinogen to 787 +/- 52 ng angiotensin-I/ml in 7 days compared to 1576 +/- 142 ng angiotensin-I/ml in sham-operated controls. Plasma T3 and T4 were also reduced, whereas there were no statistically significant changes in plasma ACTH or LH. Hypophysectomy produced a comparable decline in plasma angiotensinogen and thyroid hormone levels. Daily administration of a single dose of ACTH had no effect on plasma angiotensinogen in rats with paraventricular lesions, but T4 treatment restored plasma angiotensinogen to normal levels. The data indicate that the decline in circulating angiotensinogen produced by lesions of the paraventricular nuclei is caused by the decrease in the secretion of thyroid hormones produced by these lesions. They also demonstrate that in addition to regulating circulating renin via the sympathetic nervous system, the brain has an effect on circulating angiotensinogen via neuroendocrine control of thyroid function.

Adrenocorticotropic Hormone↗
PubMed1991

Distribution of angiotensinogen immunoreactivity in rat anterior pituitary glands.

Angiotensin II (AII) has been previously shown to be localized in the gonadotropes of the rat anterior pituitary gland. Renin and angiotensin-converting enzyme, two enzymes that participate in the generation of AII, also have been shown to be present in gonadotropes. To determine whether angiotensinogen, the precursor to AII, is present in the same cells, we have stained rat anterior pituitary sections with an antirat angiotensinogen antiserum. Angiotensinogen staining was observed in cells that had a distinctive distribution at the periphery of the gland; the number of these cells and the intensity of the staining were increased in the pituitaries of rats that had been nephrectomized 24 hr before sacrifice. When double staining was performed, we never observed colocalization of angiotensinogen with any of the known pituitary hormones or with S100 protein. The results show that in the rat anterior pituitary gland, angiotensinogen is present, at least for the most part, in cells that are different from those containing renin, angiotensin-converting enzyme, and AII.

Angiotensin II↗
PubMed1990

Pharmacological evidence for involvement of the sympathetic nervous system in the increase in renin secretion produced by a low sodium diet in rats.

To determine the degree to which increased sympathetic activity contributes to the increase in renin secretion produced by a low sodium diet, the beta-adrenergic blocking drug propranolol or saline vehicle was injected through indwelling jugular cannulas in rats fed a normal diet and rats fed a low sodium diet for 9 days. Plasma renin activity (PRA) and plasma renin concentration (PRC) were elevated by the low sodium diet, and these values were reduced 42-45% by propranolol, although they were still higher than in the normal diet controls. Plasma corticosterone was moderately elevated in cannulated rats on regular diet, compared to decapitated controls, but corticosterone did not differ between cannulated and decapitated rats on low salt diet; propranolol reduced plasma corticosterone. However, PRA and PRC were comparable in cannulated rats and decapitated controls on both the normal and the low sodium diets, and propranolol did not produce a significant reduction in PRA and PRC in rats fed the normal diet. This indicates that the effects of propranolol on PRA and PRC in the low sodium rats were not simply due to reduction of a stress-induced increase in renin secretion. The results indicate that increased sympathetic activity makes a substantial contribution to the increase in renin secretion produced by 9 days of dietary sodium restriction.

Adrenocorticotropic Hormone↗
PubMed1990

Angiotensinogen production by rat astroglial cells in vitro and in vivo.

To investigate the production of angiotensinogen by the brain, primary cultures were prepared from the brains of one-day-old rats. Two to four weeks after plating, they were transferred to serum-free medium. The cultures, which contained approximately 15% neurons, 80% astroglia and 5% other types of cells, produced angiotensinogen at a steady rate for three to four days in serum-free medium. Cultures prepared from subcortical tissue produced more angiotensinogen than cultures prepared from cerebral cortical tissue. Angiotensinogen mRNA was also identified in those cultures. Forskolin treatment had no effect on angiotensinogen production. Astroglia-enriched cultures that contained no identifiable neurons also produced angiotensinogen and its mRNA. Astroglial cells from hypothalamus and thalamus produced more of both than astroglial cells from the cerebral cortex. In situ hybridization histochemistry on sections of the hypothalamus of adult male rats showed a diffuse distribution of cells containing angiotensinogen mRNA that was more consistent with a glial than a neuronal distribution. The data indicate that most if not all of the angiotensinogen in rat brain is produced by astrocytes.

Angiotensinogen↗
PubMed1989

Allografts of CNS tissue possess a blood-brain barrier. I. Grafts of medial preoptic area in hypogonadal mice.

This study represents the first part of a three-part investigation of blood vessels supplying CNS tissue transplanted within the brains of adult mammalian hosts. The results emphasize that blood vessels in solid CNS grafts contribute a blood-brain barrier to that of the host. Neurosecretory cells in basal forebrain grafts placed intraventricularly on the dorsal surface of the host median eminence, a neurosecretory site containing fenestrated blood vessels, do not stimulate similar blood vessels to inhabit the transplanted tissue. Solid grafts of the medial preoptic area containing neurons that synthesize and secrete gonadotropic hormone-releasing hormone (GnRH) were obtained from AKR mice and placed into the third cerebral ventricle of hypogonadal (HPG) mice genetically incapable of synthesizing GnRH. GnRH neurons in the allografts were confirmed immunohistochemically. Blood vessels supplying the host median eminence and the allograft at 10 days to 3 months post-transplantation were analyzed with peroxidase cytochemistry applied in three ways: to HPG mice injected systemically with native horseradish peroxidase; to HPG mice infused into the aorta with peroxidase subsequent to perfusion fixation; and to HPG mice brains fixed by immersion and incubated for endogenous peroxidase activity in red cells retained within blood vessels. The median eminence of the HPG mouse was innervated by GnRH neurons residing within the graft, and blood vessels traversing the median eminence-allograft interface were seen rarely. The allografts contained no fenestrated endothelia, and no extravasations of blood-borne HRP were related directly to leaky blood vessels supplying the grafted tissue. Endothelial cells throughout the CNS grafts were similar morphologically to blood-brain barrier endothelia; they were nonfenestrated, exhibited interendothelial tight junctional complexes and an endomembrane system of organelles, and they endocytosed blood-borne HRP that eventually was sequestered within dense body lysosomes. The results support the belief that blood vessels supplying CNS tissue transplanted to a host brain manifest endothelial characteristics identical to those of the tissue in normal life and to those of the host CNS.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

Renin-angiotensin system in the anterior pituitary of the rat.

In rats, angiotensin II appears to be synthesized in the anterior pituitary gland and stored in gonadotropes in the same granules as the beta-subunit of luteinizing hormone (LH). The gonadotropes also contain renin-like and angiotensin-converting enzyme-like immunoreactivity, but angiotensinogen-like immunoreactivity is found in a separate population of cells and does not colocalize with any of the known anterior pituitary hormones. This suggests that angiotensinogen shuttles to the gonadotropes in a paracrine fashion. There are angiotensin II receptors on lactotropes and corticotropes, but no definite function has been established for pituitary angiotensin II in the regulation of prolactin and adrenocorticotropic hormone.

Angiotensin II↗
PubMed1989

Lack of effect of vasopressin replacement on renin hypersecretion in Brattleboro rats.

To determine how the vasopressin deficiency in homozygous Brattleboro rats with diabetes insipidus produces increased renin secretion, homozygous and heterozygous Brattleboro rats were infused through subcutaneously implanted Alzet minipumps for 1 wk with a dose of arginine vasopressin that restored plasma vasopressin to normal in the homozygous animals. In the homozygous animals, plasma renin activity (PRA) and the PRA response to immobilization remained elevated compared with Long-Evans controls. Propranolol reduced PRA to normal and markedly reduced the PRA response to immobilization. PRA was normal in heterozygous Brattleboro rats. The data indicate that the increased renin secretion in homozygous rats is a result of increased sympathetic activity, and because circulating vasopressin does not cross the blood-brain barrier, it seems likely that the increased sympathetic activity is central in origin.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

Correlation between the stress-induced transient increase in corticotropin-releasing hormone content of the median eminence of the hypothalamus and adrenocorticotropic hormone secretion.

Intravenous angiotensin II and ether stress were found to produce a rapid, transient increase in the corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) content of the median eminence as measured by a radioimmunoassay employing an antibody against rat CRH(1-41). This confirms previous reports of transient increases in CRH measured by bioassay. The increase did not occur in the paraventricular region or in other parts of the brain. It occurred along with an increase in plasma adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) when a second ether stress was administered 1 h after the first, and it also occurred when rats that had been adrenalectomized for 5 days were exposed to ether. The increases in CHR and the ACTH responses to ether were reduced or abolished by dexamethasone and pentobarbital. Four days after semicircular knife cuts in the posterior hypothalamus, resting CRH in the median eminence was increased but there was no further rise after ether stress. Plasma ACTH was normal at rest after the cuts, but the increase produced by ether was reduced. The ACTH responses to angiotensin II and immobilization were also reduced. Because the posterior knife cuts reduced hypothalamic catecholamine content, the effects of reducing hypothalamic norepinephrine and epinephrine by administration of the dopamine-beta-hydroxylase inhibitor diethyldithiocarbamate (DDC) were tested. Five hours after DDC, plasma ACTH was elevated but there was no further increase with ether stress. The median eminence CRH content was normal but failed to increase after exposure to ether.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adrenocorticotropic Hormone↗
PubMed1989

Angiotensin II in the brain and pituitary: contrasting roles in the regulation of adenohypophyseal secretion.

Angiotensin II (AII) is present in gonadotropes in rats, and there are AII receptors on lactotropes and corticotropes. AII may be a paracrine mediator that stimulates the secretion of prolactin and adrenocorticotropin (ACTH) at the level of the pituitary, but additional research is needed to define its exact role. Angiotensinogen may also reach the gonadotropes via a paracrine route. On the other hand, there is considerable evidence that brain AII stimulates the secretion of luteinizing hormone (LH) by increasing the secretion of LH-releasing hormone, and that this effect is due to AII-mediated release of norepinephrine from noradrenergic nerve terminals in the preoptic region of the hypothalamus. In addition, brain AII inhibits the secretion of prolactin, probably by increasing the release of dopamine into the portal hypophyseal vessels. Circulating AII stimulates the secretion of a third anterior pituitary hormone, ACTH, by acting on one or more of the circumventricular organs to increase the secretion of corticotropin-releasing hormone.

Angiotensin II↗