@article{PozziBolzoniBiellaetal.2023, author = {Pozzi, Nicol{\´o} Gabriele and Bolzoni, Francesco and Biella, Gabriele Eliseo Mario and Pezzoli, Gianni and Ip, Chi Wang and Volkmann, Jens and Cavallari, Paolo and Asan, Esther and Isaias, Ioannis Ugo}, title = {Brain noradrenergic innervation supports the development of Parkinson's tremor: a study in a reserpinized rat model}, series = {Cells}, volume = {12}, journal = {Cells}, number = {21}, issn = {2073-4409}, doi = {10.3390/cells12212529}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-357721}, year = {2023}, abstract = {The pathophysiology of tremor in Parkinson's disease (PD) is evolving towards a complex alteration to monoaminergic innervation, and increasing evidence suggests a key role of the locus coeruleus noradrenergic system (LC-NA). However, the difficulties in imaging LC-NA in patients challenge its direct investigation. To this end, we studied the development of tremor in a reserpinized rat model of PD, with or without a selective lesioning of LC-NA innervation with the neurotoxin DSP-4. Eight male rats (Sprague Dawley) received DSP-4 (50 mg/kg) two weeks prior to reserpine injection (10 mg/kg) (DR-group), while seven male animals received only reserpine treatment (R-group). Tremor, rigidity, hypokinesia, postural flexion and postural immobility were scored before and after 20, 40, 60, 80, 120 and 180 min of reserpine injection. Tremor was assessed visually and with accelerometers. The injection of DSP-4 induced a severe reduction in LC-NA terminal axons (DR-group: 0.024 ± 0.01 vs. R-group: 0.27 ± 0.04 axons/um\(^2\), p < 0.001) and was associated with significantly less tremor, as compared to the R-group (peak tremor score, DR-group: 0.5 ± 0.8 vs. R-group: 1.6 ± 0.5; p < 0.01). Kinematic measurement confirmed the clinical data (tremor consistency (\% of tremor during 180 s recording), DR-group: 37.9 ± 35.8 vs. R-group: 69.3 ± 29.6; p < 0.05). Akinetic-rigid symptoms did not differ between the DR- and R-groups. Our results provide preliminary causal evidence for a critical role of LC-NA innervation in the development of PD tremor and foster the development of targeted therapies for PD patients.}, language = {en} } @article{GriebschKernHansenetal.2022, author = {Griebsch, Nora-Isabell and Kern, Johanna and Hansen, Jonas and Rullmann, Michael and Luthardt, Julia and Helfmeyer, Stephanie and Dekorsy, Franziska J. and Soeder, Marvin and Hankir, Mohammed K. and Zientek, Franziska and Becker, Georg-Alexander and Patt, Marianne and Meyer, Philipp M. and Dietrich, Arne and Bl{\"u}her, Matthias and Ding, Yu-Shin and Hilbert, Anja and Sabri, Osama and Hesse, Swen}, title = {Central serotonin/noradrenaline transporter availability and treatment success in patients with obesity}, series = {Brain Sciences}, volume = {12}, journal = {Brain Sciences}, number = {11}, issn = {2076-3425}, doi = {10.3390/brainsci12111437}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-290294}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) as well as noradrenaline (NA) are key modulators of various fundamental brain functions including the control of appetite. While manipulations that alter brain serotoninergic signaling clearly affect body weight, studies implicating 5-HT transporters and NA transporters (5-HTT and NAT, respectively) as a main drug treatment target for human obesity have not been conclusive. The aim of this positron emission tomography (PET) study was to investigate how these central transporters are associated with changes of body weight after 6 months of dietary intervention or Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) surgery in order to assess whether 5-HTT as well as NAT availability can predict weight loss and consequently treatment success. The study population consisted of two study cohorts using either the 5-HTT-selective radiotracer [\(^{11}\)C]DASB to measure 5-HTT availability or the NAT-selective radiotracer [\(^{11}\)C]MRB to assess NAT availability. Each group included non-obesity healthy participants, patients with severe obesity (body mass index, BMI, >35 kg/m\(^2\)) following a conservative dietary program (diet) and patients undergoing RYGB surgery within a 6-month follow-up. Overall, changes in BMI were not associated with changes of both 5-HTT and NAT availability, while 5-HTT availability in the dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN) prior to intervention was associated with substantial BMI reduction after RYGB surgery and inversely related with modest BMI reduction after diet. Taken together, the data of our study indicate that 5-HTT and NAT are involved in the pathomechanism of obesity and have the potential to serve as predictors of treatment outcomes.}, language = {en} } @article{WeselekKeinerFauseretal.2020, author = {Weselek, Grit and Keiner, Silke and Fauser, Mareike and Wagenf{\"u}hr, Lisa and M{\"u}ller, Julia and Kaltschmidt, Barbara and Brandt, Moritz D. and Gerlach, Manfred and Redecker, Christoph and Hermann, Andreas and Storch, Alexander}, title = {Norepinephrine is a negative regulator of the adult periventricular neural stem cell niche}, series = {Stem Cells}, volume = {38}, journal = {Stem Cells}, number = {9}, doi = {10.1002/stem.3232}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-218250}, pages = {1188 -- 1201}, year = {2020}, abstract = {The limited proliferative capacity of neuroprogenitor cells (NPCs) within the periventricular germinal niches (PGNs) located caudal of the subventricular zone (SVZ) of the lateral ventricles together with their high proliferation capacity after isolation strongly implicates cell-extrinsic humoral factors restricting NPC proliferation in the hypothalamic and midbrain PGNs. We comparatively examined the effects of norepinephrine (NE) as an endogenous candidate regulator of PGN neurogenesis in the SVZ as well as the periventricular hypothalamus and the periaqueductal midbrain. Histological and neurochemical analyses revealed that the pattern of NE innervation of the adult PGNs is inversely associated with their in vivo NPC proliferation capacity with low NE levels coupled to high NPC proliferation in the SVZ but high NE levels coupled to low NPC proliferation in hypothalamic and midbrain PGNs. Intraventricular infusion of NE decreased NPC proliferation and neurogenesis in the SVZ-olfactory bulb system, while pharmacological NE inhibition increased NPC proliferation and early neurogenesis events in the caudal PGNs. Neurotoxic ablation of NE neurons using the Dsp4-fluoxetine protocol confirmed its inhibitory effects on NPC proliferation. Contrarily, NE depletion largely impairs NPC proliferation within the hippocampus in the same animals. Our data indicate that norepinephrine has opposite effects on the two fundamental neurogenic niches of the adult brain with norepinephrine being a negative regulator of adult periventricular neurogenesis. This knowledge might ultimately lead to new therapeutic approaches to influence neurogenesis in hypothalamus-related metabolic diseases or to stimulate endogenous regenerative potential in neurodegenerative processes such as Parkinson's disease.}, language = {en} }