Neuropeptide Y gene expression and receptor autoradiography in hypertensive and normotensive rat brain

Abstract

Neurones containing neuropeptide Y (NPY) may participate in central cardiovascular control by tonically influencing barosensitive neurones within the nucleus tractus solitarius. The present study has employed both in situ hybridisation histochemistry and receptor autoradiography, to visualise the expression of prepro-NPY mRNA in the forebrain and to determine the NPY receptor subtype(s) in the brainstem, respectively. Prepro-NPY gene expression was visualised in the hypothalamus, cortex, dentate gyrus and lateral reticular thalamus from age-matched spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) and normotensive Don Ryu rats (DRY) and Wistar Kyoto rats (WKY). Quantitative densitometry revealed an incr..