Abstract
The median eminence of the pituitary is rich in opioid receptors1, and exogenous opioids have major effects on the release of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH)2,3, luteinizing hormone (LH)4,5, prolactin4,6, growth hormone (GH)4,6 and thyrotropin7,8. Stress results in similar changes in anterior pituitary hormone secretion. Enkephalin immunoreactivity has been reported in the medial parvocellular neurons of the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus which project to the median eminence9–12, the site where hypothalamic releasing factors are secreted into the portal blood and thence to the anterior pituitary gland. The endocrine response to stressful stimuli might therefore, at least in part, be mediated through the activation of hypothalamic enkephalinergic neurons. We show that two stressful stimuli, opiate withdrawal and intraperitoneal injection of hypertonic saline, both result in very rapid and marked increases in enkephalin mRNA in the parvocellular paraventricular nucleus. The activation of hypothalamic enkephalin neurons may be important in the neuroendocrine response to stress.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Lightman, S., Young III, W. Changes in hypothalamic preproenkephalin A mRNA following stress and opiate withdrawal. Nature 328, 643–645 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1038/328643a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/328643a0
This article is cited by
-
The effect of iron dextran on the transcriptome of pig hippocampus
Genes & Genomics (2017)
-
Motherhood Induces and Maintains Behavioral and Neural Plasticity across the Lifespan in the Rat
Archives of Sexual Behavior (2008)
-
Preproenkephalin RNA increases in the hypothalamus of rats stressed by social deprivation
Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology (1992)
-
The molecular biology of addictive drugs
Molecular Neurobiology (1991)
-
Factors regulating the activity of striatal neurons: New perspectives fromin situ hybridization histochemistry
Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology (1990)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.