Altered PVN-to-CA2 hippocampal oxytocin pathway and reduced number of oxytocin-receptor expressing astrocytes in heart failure rats.

ABSTRACT: Oxytocinergic actions within the hippocampal CA2 are important for neuromodulation, memory processing and social recognition. However, the source of the OTergic innervation, the cellular targets expressing the OT receptors (OTRs) and whether the PVN-to-CA2 OTergic system is altered during heart failure (HF), a condition recently associated with cognitive and mood decline, remains unknown. Using immunohistochemistry along with retrograde monosynaptic tracing, RNAscope and a novel OTR-Cre rat line, we show that the PVN (but not the supraoptic nucleus) is an important source of OTergic innervation to the CA2. These OTergic fibers were found in many instances in close apposition to OTR expressing cells within the CA2. Interestingly, while only a small proportion of neurons were found to expres

SUBMITTER: Althammer F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9495289 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature