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Proliferation of neuronal progenitor cells and neuronal differentiation in the hypothalamus are enhanced in heat-acclimated rats

  • Integrative Physiology
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Abstract

Male Wistar rats, initially maintained at an ambient temperature (T a) of 24°C, were subjected to a constant high T a of 32°C (HE) or were constantly kept at 24°C (controls, CN). Bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) was intraperitoneally injected daily for five consecutive days after commencing heat exposure. On the 6th, 13th, 23rd, 33rd, 43rd, and 53rd day of heat exposure, rats’ brains were removed. Immunohistochemical analysis showed that the numbers of BrdU-positive cells in the hypothalamus of HE were significantly and consistently greater than those of CN. In HE, the number of BrdU-positive cells double-stained by a mature neuron marker increased abruptly after 33 days of heat exposure by about seven times. This was not the case in CN. The results suggest that heat exposure facilitates proliferation of neuronal progenitor cells in the hypothalamus and promotes differentiation to neurons, which might have certain relation to establishing long-term heat acclimation in rats.

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Acknowledgments

This study was partly supported by The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan, Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B) 20790192. The authors also wish to thank John Telloyan for his English assistance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Shimane University, 89-1 Enya-cho, Izumo, 693-8501, Japan

    Kentaro Matsuzaki, Masanori Katakura, Toshiko Hara, Guanghua Li, Michio Hashimoto & Osamu Shido

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  1. Kentaro Matsuzaki
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  2. Masanori Katakura
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  3. Toshiko Hara
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Correspondence to Kentaro Matsuzaki.

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Matsuzaki, K., Katakura, M., Hara, T. et al. Proliferation of neuronal progenitor cells and neuronal differentiation in the hypothalamus are enhanced in heat-acclimated rats. Pflugers Arch - Eur J Physiol 458, 661–673 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00424-009-0654-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00424-009-0654-2

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