Bed nucleus of stria terminalis enkephalin neurons contribute to depletion-induced salt appetite.

Abstract

The overconsumption of sodium contributes to a wide range of detrimental health conditions. Thus, it is imperative to gain a better understanding of the neural mechanisms driving sodium appetite. Here, we combined neuroanatomic, transgenic, behavioural and chemogenetic approaches to investigate the role of bed nucleus of stria terminalis (BNST) enkephalin neurons (BNSTENK) in sodium appetite in male and female pENK-Cre mice. Our results demonstrate that Gi-mediated signalling onto BNSTENK neurons regulates salt consumption following sodium depletion, but does not impact upon taste preference when replete. Further, Gi-mediated signalling onto BNSTENK neurons had no effect on deprivation-induc..