Involvement of the paraventricular (PVN) and arcuate (ARC) nuclei of the hypothalamus in the central noradrenergic regulation of liver cytochrome P450

The present study was aimed at assessing the influence of noradrenergic innervation of the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) and the arcuate nucleus (ARC) of the brain hypothalamus on cytochrome P450 expression in the liver. DSP-4, a neurotoxin specific to noradrenergic nerve terminals, was administrated locally into the PVN or ARC. One week after neurotoxin injection, the levels of neurotansmitters (noradrenaline/dopamine/serotonin) were measured in the middle part of the hypothalamus, hormone concentrations were estimated in blood plasma, and the activity and the protein levels of CYP isoforms were measured in the liver. A significant decrease in noradrenaline level in the hypothalamus was observed after DSP-4 injection into the PVN or ARC. The levels of dopamine or serotonin remained unchanged or slightly lowered. Simultaneously, significant changes in the plasma concentration of growth hormone were found; its elevation in PVN-lesioned rats and a drop in ARC-lesioned ones. There were no changes in the plasma concentration of the thyroid hormones or corticosterone. The activity and protein levels of isoforms CYP2C11, CYP3A and CYP2A rose in the liver of PVN-lesioned rats, but the activity and protein level of CYP2C11 fell in ARC-lesioned animals such a tendency being also observed in the case of CYP3A. Our study shows that noradrenergic innervation of the PVN and ARC of the hypothalamus exerts an opposite effect on the regulation of cytochrome P450 in the liver. These findings may be important for pharmacological experiments and pharmacotherapy with neuroactive drugs, since cytochrome P450 is responsible for the metabolism of steroids and the majority of drugs.