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Melatonin inhibits hypothalamic gonadotropin-releasing hormone release and reduces biliary hyperplasia and fibrosis in cholestatic rats.

ABSTRACT: Melatonin is a hormone produced by the pineal gland with increased circulating levels shown to inhibit biliary hyperplasia and fibrosis during cholestatic liver injury. Melatonin also has the capability to suppress the release of hypothalamic gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH), a hormone that promotes cholangiocyte proliferation when serum levels are elevated. However, the interplay and contribution of neural melatonin and GnRH to cholangiocyte proliferation and fibrosis in bile duct-ligated (BDL) rats have not been investigated. To test this, cranial levels of melatonin were increased by implanting osmotic minipumps that performed an intracerebroventricular (ICV) infusion of melatonin or saline for 7 days starting at the time of BDL. Hypothalamic GnRH mRNA and cholangiocyte secretion of GnRH and melatonin were assessed. Cholangiocyte proliferation and fibrosis were measured. Primary human hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) were treated with cholangiocyte supernatants, GnRH, or the GnRH receptor antagonist cetrorelix acetate, and cell proliferation and fibrosis gene expression were assessed. Melatonin infusion reduced hypothalamic GnRH mRNA expression and led to decreased GnRH and increased melatonin secretion from cholangiocytes. Infusion of melatonin was found to reduce hepatic injury, cholangiocyte proliferation, and fibrosis during BDL-induced liver injury. HSCs supplemented with BDL cholangiocyte supernatant had increased proliferation, and this increase was reversed when HSCs were supplemented with supernatants from melatonin-infused rats. GnRH stimulated fibrosis gene expression in HSCs, and this was reversed by cetrorelix acetate cotreatment. Increasing bioavailability of melatonin in the brain may improve outcomes during cholestatic liver disease.NEW & NOTEWORTHY We have previously demonstrated that GnRH is expressed in cholangiocytes and promotes their proliferation during cholestasis. In addition, dark therapy, which increases melatonin, reduced cholangiocyte proliferation and fibrosis during cholestasis. This study expands these findings by investigating neural GnRH regulation by melatonin during BDL-induced cholestasis by infusing melatonin into the brain. Melatonin infusion reduced cholangiocyte proliferation and fibrosis, and these effects are due to GNRH receptor 1-dependent paracrine signaling between cholangiocytes and hepatic stellate cells.

SUBMITTER: McMillin M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5792219 | biostudies-other | 2017 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Melatonin inhibits hypothalamic gonadotropin-releasing hormone release and reduces biliary hyperplasia and fibrosis in cholestatic rats.

McMillin Matthew M DeMorrow Sharon S Glaser Shannon S Venter Julie J Kyritsi Konstantina K Zhou Tianhao T Grant Stephanie S Giang Thao T Greene John F JF Wu Nan N Jefferson Brandi B Meng Fanyin F Alpini Gianfranco G

American journal of physiology. Gastrointestinal and liver physiology 20170727 5

Melatonin is a hormone produced by the pineal gland with increased circulating levels shown to inhibit biliary hyperplasia and fibrosis during cholestatic liver injury. Melatonin also has the capability to suppress the release of hypothalamic gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH), a hormone that promotes cholangiocyte proliferation when serum levels are elevated. However, the interplay and contribution of neural melatonin and GnRH to cholangiocyte proliferation and fibrosis in bile duct-ligated ...[more]

PMID: 28751425

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Project description:Alcohol (ALC) diminishes gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) secretion and delays puberty. Glial transforming growth factor ?1 (TGF?1) plays a role in glial-neuronal communications facilitating prepubertal GnRH secretion. We assessed the effects of acute ALC administration on TGF?1-induced GnRH gene expression in the brain preoptic area (POA) and release of the peptide from the medial basal hypothalamus (MBH). Furthermore, we assessed actions and interactions of TGF?1 and ALC on an adhesion/signaling gene family involved in glial-neuronal communications.Prepubertal female rats were administered ALC or water via gastric gavage at 7:30 am. At 9:00 am, saline or TGF?1 (100 ng/3 ?l) was administered into the third ventricle. At 3:00 pm, the POA was removed and frozen for gene expression analysis and repeated for protein assessments. In another experiment, the MBH was removed from ALC-free rats. After equilibration, tissues were incubated in Locke's medium only or medium containing TGF?1 with or without 50 mM ALC for measurement of GnRH peptide released in vitro.TGF?1 induced GnRH gene expression in the POA, and this effect was blocked by ALC. We also described the presence and responsiveness of the TGF?1 receptor in the POA and showed that acute ALC exposure not only altered the TGF?1-induced increase in TGF?-R1 protein expression but also the activation of receptor-associated proteins, Smad2 and Smad3, key downstream components of the TGF?1 signaling pathway. Assessment of an adhesion/signaling family consisting of glial receptor protein tyrosine phosphatase beta and neuronal contactin-associated protein-1 (Caspr1) and contactin showed that the neuronal components were induced by TGF?1 and that ALC blocked these effects. Finally, TGF?1 was shown to induce release of the GnRH peptide in vitro, an action that was blocked by ALC.We have demonstrated glial-derived TGF?1 induces GnRH gene expression in the POA and stimulates release of the peptide from the MBH, actions necessary for driving the pubertal process. Importantly, ALC acted at both brain regions to block stimulatory effects of TGF?1. Furthermore, ALC altered neuronal components of an adhesion/signaling family previously shown to be expressed on GnRH neurons and implicated in glial-GnRH neuronal communications. These results further demonstrate detrimental effects of ALC at puberty.

Dataset Information

Melatonin inhibits hypothalamic gonadotropin-releasing hormone release and reduces biliary hyperplasia and fibrosis in cholestatic rats.

Publications

Melatonin inhibits hypothalamic gonadotropin-releasing hormone release and reduces biliary hyperplasia and fibrosis in cholestatic rats.

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