Polydipsic Mice Research Articles

Abstract P003: Hyperactive Brain Renin Angiotensin System Induces Polydipsia Through mTORC1 Pathway

Mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) is a molecular hub for signaling pathways mediating a wide range of cellular events involved in the regulation of various physiological and pathophysiological processes. We previously demonstrated that Angiotensin II (Ang II) activates mTORC1 and its downstream effector ribosomal protein S6 kinase in neurons in vitro . Here, we investigated the role of brain mTORC1 in hypertension and polydipsia induced by Ang II. In wild-type mice, acute stimulation of angiotensin type 1 receptor signaling by intracerebroventricular (ICV) injection of Ang II (1 μg, 30 min) activated mTORC1 signaling in the subfornical organ (SFO), a critical brain region in cardiovascular control and fluid balance, as indicated by the significant increase in the number of phosphorylated S6-positive cells (32±2 vs 13±3 in vehicle group). Similar upregulation of the mTORC1 pathway in the SFO was also found in the mice treated subcutaneously with Ang II (1000 ng/kg/min) using an osmotic minipump for 1 week (27±3 vs 11±2 in vehicle group). To verify functional roles of the Ang II activation of mTORC1 in the SFO, we utilized hypertensive and polydipsic transgenic mice (sRA) that have a hyperactive brain renin-angiotensin system, resulting in SFO-overproduction of Ang II. Interestingly, sRA mice exhibited substantially elevated phospho-S6 immunoreactivity only in the SFO (64±6 vs 36±8 in controls) but not in other cardiovascular regulatory regions including the paraventricular nucleus. ICV delivery of mTORC1 blocker, rapamycin (10 ng/day for 7 days) significantly (p<0.05) reduced daily water intake (-4.5±0.7 mL) compared to vehicle-treated sRA mice (-0.7±0.6 mL). In contrast, systolic blood pressure remained unchanged with rapamycin treatment (123±1 vs 125±4 mmHg in pre-treatment) and was consistently higher than the control group (110±4 mmHg). These results suggest that mTORC1 activity in the SFO is a critical determinant of the polydipsia evoked by Ang II.

Downregulation of AQP2 expression in the kidney of polydipsic STR/N mice

Aquaporin-2 (AQP2) is responsible for the concentration of urine in the kidney collecting tubule under the regulation of vasopressin. The mRNA level of this water channel in polydipsic STR/N mice was extremely reduced compared with that in normal ICR mice. In male mice, reduction of the AQP2 mRNA level was not evident at 3 wk of age, at which time water intake was not increased. At 10 wk of age, however, the AQP2 mRNA level was reduced to 10% of that in control mice, whereas water intake was increased by 36%. At 44 wk, the water intake became five times that of the control ICR mice, and the AQP2 mRNA level in these polydipsic mice was only approximately 5% of control. Similar changes were observed in the AQP2 protein level, suggesting that the mRNA level of AQP2 reflects the protein level of AQP2. These inverse changes in the AQP2 mRNA level and water intake were also evident in female mice. The data imply that polydipsia in STR/N mice may have affected AQP2 mRNA transcription in the kidney, resulting in reduced AQP2 expression, which would contribute to a reduction in overretention of water.

Enhanced effects of central angiotensin II on cardiovascular and drinking responses in inbred polydipsic (STR/N) mice

STR/N, an inbred strain of mice, is known to exhibit extreme polydipsia and polyuria. The objective of this study was to investigate the possible reasons for polydipsia. First, comparisons were made between STR/N mice and control mice from the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) concerning daily drinking, urinary excretion, and basal cardiovascular function. Then, since angiotensin II (ANG II) is a potent stimulus for drinking behavior, we investigated the effects of intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) administration of ANG II on cardiovascular and water intake responses. Daily water intake, food intake, urinary volume, and urinary electrolytes (Na and K) excretion were larger in STR/N mice than in ICR mice, and the basal blood pressure was significantly lower in STR/N mice than in ICR mice. The i.c.v. administration of ANG II (10 pmol/per mouse) resulted in increased mean arterial blood pressure (MAP) and water intake in both STR/N and ICR mice, but the changes in MAP were significantly larger in STR/N mice than in ICR mice. These results suggest that polydipsia in STR/N mice is at least partially attributable to high sensitivity of central ANG II receptors and low MAP.

Up-Regulation of Vasopressin and Angiotensin II Receptors in the Thalamus and Brainstem of Inbred Polydipsic Mice

Vasopressin (AVP), angiotensin II (Ang II) and oxytocin (OT) receptors were mapped in the brain of inbred polydipsic mice of the STR/N strain by quantitative in vitro autoradiography and receptor binding levels, compared with those found in control non-polydipsic mice of the ICR strain. A remarkable difference was evidenced in the thalamic paraventricular nucleus where AVP receptor binding was 7- to 10-fold higher in polydipsic mice than in control mice. Another disparity was observed in the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus, which contained AVP binding sites in the control mice, but was unlabelled in the polydipsic animals. Ang II receptor binding was reduced in the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus of the polydipsic mice, whereas it was abundant in the brainstem region, encompassing area postrema and the nucleus of the solitary tract. The distribution and amount of OT receptor binding were similar in the polydipsic and control mice. Strain-related differences of AVP and Ang II receptor binding were observed both in male and female animals. A sex-related difference was seen only for OT receptor binding in the hypothalamic ventromedial nucleus, where labelling was less intense in males than in females of both strains. Altogether, our results support the view that central AVP and Ang II systems are involved in the mechanisms responsible for polydipsia in STR/N mice.

Disorder of salivary secretion in inbred polydipsic mouse.

To find mechanisms of an extreme polydipsia in an inbred strain of mice, STR/N, this study was undertaken using Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) mice as a control. During food deprivation, daily water intake of both strains decreased. The decrement in the STR/N mice was larger than that in the ICR mice. During dehydration, daily food intake of the STR/N mice was smaller than that of the ICR mice. These data indicate that prandial drinking was more severely affected for the STR/N mice. Under anesthesia, the stimulated salivary secretion by pilocarpine of the STR/N mice was significantly smaller than that of the ICR mice. The submandibular gland of the STR/N mice was lighter and harder than that of the ICR mice. After desalivation from the major three salivary glands, the ICR mice drank as much as the STR/N mice. Young STR/N mice with undeveloped polydipsia did not show different salivary secretion stimulated by pilocarpine from the young ICR mice. These findings indicate a dysfunction with age in the salivary glands of the STR/N mice, and they suggest that the decreased saliva induces thirst and triggers extraordinary drinking in the polydipsic mice.

Reduced interleukin-1 responsiveness in immune system and central nervous system of inbred polydipsic (STR/N) mice

Inbred polydipsic mice (STR/N strain) have primary polydipsia. The previous studies found abnormalities in the central nervous system (CNS), especially in the hypothalamus and circumventricular organ. As a part of pursuing to find the cause of the polydipsia, we investigated immunological characteristics of STR/N mice, using the ICR strain of mice as control. Their thymic subset cells showed that CD4 +CD8 + double positive cells were increased, CD4 + single positive cells were decreased and CD5 expression was deficient, compared to ICR mice. T cell proliferative response and interleukin (IL)-2 production caused by IL-1β stimulation were reduced in STR/N mice than those in the ICR mice. In in vivo studies the degree of thymic atrophy and the increases in serum level of ACTH and corticosterone induced by intraperitoneal IL-1β injection were much less in STR/N mice than those in controls. Furthermore, adipsic response also induced by IL-1β injection was greatly reduced compared to their control mice. All these results suggest that the responsiveness to IL-1 is impaired both in the immune system and the CNS of STR/N mice.

Analysis of the vasopressin system and water regulation in genetically polydipsic mice.

Polydipsic mice, STR/N, which show extreme polydipsia and polyuria, were discovered in 1958. In the STR/N, urine outputs are much higher than in control mice. The possibility of an abnormal regulation of the arginine vasopressin (AVP) system, or an abnormality in the renal susceptibility to AVP, should be considered. In this study we investigated the AVP system and water regulation in STR/N. We sequenced the AVP and the AVP V(2)-receptor genes of the STR/N by direct sequencing. No mutation was found in either of them. AVP gene expression examined by in situ hybridization and plasma sodium in 8-wk-old STR/N was significantly lower than in control mice, whereas it was significantly higher at 20 wk. Renal sensitivity to injected AVP was attenuated in 20-wk-old STR/N. The suppression of AVP synthesis due to excessive water retention in 8-wk-old STR/N suggests that polydipsia may be the primary cause in this strain. The 20-wk-old STR/N became dehydrated with the acceleration of AVP synthesis, which might have resulted from secondary desensitization to AVP.

Hyperalgesic response to noxious stimulation in genetically polydipsic mice

Inbred mice, STR/N, are known to exhibit extreme polydipsia and polyuria but no abnormality in the response to exogenous vasopressin (AVP) and renal functions. Our previous studies have revealed that the brain opioid system is involved in the polydipsia of these mice. We here report that the STR/N mice show a decrease in the nociceptive threshold and a low, anti-nociceptive sensitivity to opioid receptors agonists. The paw-withdrawal latency (PWL) on a hot-plate in the STR/N mice was significantly shorter than that in their controls (BALB/c and C3H mice). This hyperalgesia was not affected by water restriction. Subcutaneous (s.c.) injections of morphine (5 mg/kg) and a κ-opioid receptor agonist, U50,488H (16 mg/kg) had no effect on the PWL in the STR/N mice, whereas the control mice prolonged PWL after administration of the opioids. However, the STR/N mice gained the ability to show morphine analgesia after up-regulation of the opioid system by repeated administration of naltrexone (s.c., 5 mg/kg) for 3 consecutive days. The results suggest that the anti-nociceptive function of the opioid system is down-regulated in STR/N mice as is observed in chronic morphine-treated animals.

Increase of vasopressin mRNA in the hypothalamus of inbred polydipsic mice

The genetically inbred polydipsic mice, STR/N strain, are characterized by extreme polydipsia and polyuria without arginine vasopressin (AVP) deficiency. The expression of AVP gene in the hypothalamus of polydipsic and non-polydipsic mice was examined by Northern blot analysis and in situ hybridization histochemistry. Northern blot analysis revealed that the total amount of AVP mRNA in the hypothalamus of the STR/N mice was approximately three-fold of that in the control, ICR mice. In situ hybridization histochemistry showed that the signals of AVP mRNA in the paraventricular (PVN) and supraoptic nuclei (SON) of the STR/N were stronger than those in the ICR. Although AVP gene transcripts were detected in the anteroventral parts of the PVN (avPVN) in the STR/N, there was a few AVP transcripts in the same area (avPVN) in the ICR. There were no differences in plasma osmolality and hematocrit between STR/N and ICR mice. These results suggest that upregulation of AVP mRNA in the hypothalamus of STR/N may be involved in the central mechanism responsible for the polydipsia in genetically polydipsic mice.

2412 Overexpression of vasopressin gene in the hypothalamus of inbred polydipsic mice

2412 Overexpression of vasopressin gene in the hypothalamus of inbred polydipsic mice

Water deprivation induces regional expression of c- fos protein in the brain of inbred polydipsic mice

We studied the effects of water deprivation on the expression of c- fos protein (Fos) in the brain of inbred polydipsic mice, STR/N strain, that show extreme polydipsia without a lack of vasopressin in the body. Non-polydipsic mice, ICR strain, were used as controls. All male animals were deprived of water for 24 and 48 h. Fos-like immunoreactivity (Fos-LI) in the brain was studied by immunohistochemical techniques. In both groups of mice water deprivation induced a remarkable increase in Fos-LI in the hypothalamic paraventricular (PVN) and supraoptic (SON) nuclei, the median preoptic nucleus (MnPO), the organum vasculosum laminae terminalis (OVLT) and the subfornical organ (SFO). A far more increase, however, was seen in the MnPO, the SFO and the area postrema (AP) of the polydipsic mice compared to those of the non-polydipsic control mice. In the nucleus of the tractus solitarius (NTS) and in the anteroventral part of the PVN (avPVN), water deprivation caused a clear increase in Fos-LI in the polydipsic mice, while in the non-polydipsic mice the same treatment induced no Fos-LI in the NTS and no change in the avPVN. These results indicate that neurons in the circumventricular organs and the NTS are strongly activated by water deprivation in the polydipsic mice, suggesting that these brain structures play an important role in the polydipsia.

Possible role of oxytocin in the hypothalamus of inbred polydipsic mice for sodium appetite

Possible role of oxytocin in the hypothalamus of inbred polydipsic mice for sodium appetite

Vasopressin- and oxytocin-immunoreactive hypothalamic neurones of inbred polydipsic mice

In the late 1950s the inbred polydipsic mice, STR/N, was discovered. The early studies indicated that the extreme polydipsia was not due to a lack of vasopressin but probably due to innate thirst of unknown origin. Because the recent investigation has revealed the presence of some functional abnormality in the brain of the STR/N mouse, we now investigated, using immunohistochemical techniques, distribution of vasopressin (AVP)- and oxytocin (OXT)-containing neurones in the hypothalamus of polydipsic strain of mouse and compared with that of the control. The pattern of distribution of AVP- and OXT-immunoreactive neurones in the paraventricular (PV), supraoptic (SO), and suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN) of the STR/N polydipsic mouse was similar to that of the control, but the number of AVP-immunoreactive neurones was more numerous in the PVN and SON and less in the SCN in the polydidipsic mouse than in the control. In addition, a discrete group of AVP- and OXT-containing neurones that was not clearly seen in the control was discovered in the STR/N. These results implicate that abnormal distribution in the brain AVP and OXT contribute to the mechanism responsible for the polydipsia shown by the strain STR/N.

1011 Immunological abnormalities in genetically polydipsic mice

1011 Immunological abnormalities in genetically polydipsic mice

901 Effects of de-/rehydration and sodium-free diet on drinking and feeding in inbred polydipsic mice

901 Effects of de-/rehydration and sodium-free diet on drinking and feeding in inbred polydipsic mice

Effects of the opiates on the paraventricular nucleus in genetically polydipsic mice

The inbred mice, STR/N, are known to possess extreme polydipsia with no known abnormality in vasopressin system and the kidney function. Our previous studies indicate that the opiate antagonists given intracerebroventricularly strongly attenuated spontaneous drinking. To determine the site(s) of action, the present study was undertaken. Microinjections of naltrexone methobromide and a selective κ-receptor antagonist, nor-binaltorphimine (nor-BNI), into the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVN) greatly attenuated drinking of the STR/N for 0.5 to 16 h after injections, while in the two control groups, non-polydipsic STR/1N and Swiss/Webster strains, drinking was not affected by the injections. Food intake was not much altered in all groups. Studies of PVN neurons in vitro ( n = > 160for each group) showed that basal firing rates and patterns were similar in the STR/N and the control groups. Morphine added to the medium inhibited some but excited none in all strains tested. The threshold for the inhibitory action was higher in the polydipsic STR/N mice (10 −8 M), compared to that in the control, S/W mice (10 −9 M). Further, a proportion of neurons inhibited by morphine in the PVN was significantly smaller ( P < 0.01) in the STR/N (41.7%), compared to that in the control (64.9%). Dynorphin had very similar effect to that of morphine, but the proportion of cells inhibited was 25.4% in the STR/N, and 70.4% in the S/W. Prior applications of naloxone to the medium prevented the action of both morphine and dynorphin. Under the synaptic blockade (in a low Ca 2+ and high Mg 2+ medium) the inhibitory effect of the opiates persisted. We concluded that the PVN is at least one of the possible sites where the opiates are acting to cause the polydipsia in the STR/N mice.

Involvement of vasopressin to drinking behavior in inbred polydipsic mice

Involvement of vasopressin to drinking behavior in inbred polydipsic mice

Involvement of angiotensin II in water intake of genetically polydipsic mice

The involvement of angiotensin II (ANG II) in the genetic polydipsia of the STR/N strain of mice was investigated. Daily water intake of the polydipsic inbred STR/N of both sexes ranged between five and eight times that of nonpolydipsic controls: STR/1N, a mutant of the STR/N, and Swiss-Webster (S/W) mice. Nevertheless the diurnal pattern of drinking was maintained in the STR/N. There was no difference in daily food intake, arterial blood pressure, and plasma renin activity among the three groups. Drinking responses to 48 h of water deprivation were not significantly different between the polydipsic mice and their control groups. Captopril, an angiotensin I converting-enzyme inhibitor, injected subcutaneously just before the dark period, reduced drinking for 6 h in the polydipsic strain only. Food intake of all three groups of mice was not affected. Similarly the ANG II antagonist saralasin, [Sar1,-Ile8]ANG II, injected into the lateral cerebroventricle just before the dark period, significantly reduced water intake for 6 h after injection in the polydipsic mice only. Intracerebroventricular injection of ANG II increased drinking in the nondeprived controls but not in the polydipsic mice. These findings suggest that the polydipsia in the STR/N mice may involve, at least in part, the ANG II system in the brain.

κ-Opioid antagonist strongly attenuates drinking of genetically polydipsic mice

Effects of opioid antagonists on the genetic polydipsia of the STR/N strain of mice were investigated. Naltrexone (0.5–5.0 mg/kg) injected subcutaneously before dark period attenuated spontaneous drinking for the first 3 h after injection only in the inbred polydipsic mice (STR/N), whose water intake was 5 times that of controls (non-polydipsic mutant, STR/1N, and Swiss/Webster mice). The highest dose (5 mg/kg) of naltroxone administration reduced drinking also during the next 3–6 h period and overnight feeding. Cerebroventricular (i.c.v.) injection of naltrexone, 1.0 and 2.5 μg (per mouse), suppressed drinking only in the polydipsic mice, while the higher dose (5.0 μg) attenuated drinking and feeding of both the polydipsic mice and their controls. However, i.c.v. injection of specific κ-receptor antagonist, nor-binaltorphimine (nor-BNI, 0.5–2.5 μg), suppressed drinking only in the polydipsic strain of mice at one-half dose of that needed for naltrexone. Futhermore, even a higher dose of nor-BNI administration was without effect on food intake in all strains. These findings suggest that the central opioid system plays an important role in causing the polydipsia in the STR/N mice, probably through the κ-opioid receptor.

Sensitivity to opioids of neurons in the anteroventral third ventricle region of polydipsic inbred mice

Sensitivity to opioids of neurons in the anteroventral third ventricle region of polydipsic inbred mice