Article1983

Dorsal Raphe-Hypothalamic Projections Provide the Stimulatory Serotonergic Input to Suckling-Induced Prolactin Release*

A.-L. Barofsky · JERI TAYLOR · V. John Massari

67 citations0/0 files storedEndocrinology

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Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior Growth Hormone and Insulin-like Growth Factors Hypothalamic control of reproductive hormones

Abstract

The present study was carried out to determine whether dorsal raphe serotonergic neurons are involved in the regulation of suckling-induced PRL release. Neurotoxin lesions were placed stereotaxically in lactating rats on day 1 of lactation by 5,7-dihydroxytryptamine microinjection into the dorsal raphe (DR), median raphe (MR), or superior colliculus (SC), an area devoid of serotonergic perikarya. Litters were adjusted to eight pups each and weighed daily to determine litter growth rates. On day 7 of lactation, litters were separated from mothers for 8 h, after which six healthy foster pups were provided for a 30-min suckling stimulus. Animals were killed by decapitation immediately after suckling, plasma was collected for RIA of PRL, and brains were frozen and dissected for determination of hypothalamic, caudate, and hippocampal serotonin (5-HT) using the enzymatic-isotopic assay procedure. Litter growth rates from days 1-7 of lactation were significantly different among lesion groups (P less than 0.005), with litters from SC-lesioned animals (SCL) growing similarly to the sham group (sham, 0.924; SCL, 0.941 g/pup . day). In contrast, growth rates of litters from both DR-lesioned (DRL) and MR-lesioned (MRL) animals were significantly depressed (DRL, 0.596; MRL, 0.449 g/pup . day; P less than 0.05 and P less than 0.01, respectively). 5-HT levels in hypothalamus, caudate nuclei, and hippocampus were similar in the sham and SCL groups, whereas hypothalamic 5-HT was depleted by 63% and 55%, respectively, in the DRL and MRL groups. Despite impairments in growth rate and litter survival in both the DRL and MRL groups, only DRL animals showed significant decrements in suckling-induced PRL release (DRL, 288 +/- 107; sham, 837 +/- 134 ng NIAMDD rat PRL RP-1/ml; P less than 0.05) after 5-HT-depleting lesions. The results suggest a specificity of function within the raphe system during lactation; DR 5-HT neurons which project to the hypothalamus provide stimulatory inputs to suckling-induced PRL release, whereas MR 5-HT neurons influence litter growth and survival via their role in maternal behavior.

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2013Experimental Design: Procedures for the Behavioral Sciences 2008Participation of Serotonin-Containing Neurons in the Suckling-Induced Rise in Plasma Prolactin Levels in Lactating Rats 2008Pharmacological Evidence that Serotonergic Stimulation of Prolactin Secretion is Mediated via the Dorsal Raphe Nucleus 1976Effect of Suckling on Plasma Prolactin and Hypothalamic Monoamine Levels in the Rat 1975Effect of Methysergide, a Blocker of Serotonin Receptors, on Plasma Prolactin Levels in Lactating and Ovariectomized Rats

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1983Specific Neurotoxin Lesions of Median Raphe Serotonergic Neurons Disrupt Maternal Behavior in the Lactating Rat*

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