Expression of ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH) from electroconvulsive seizure (ECS) treated C57Bl/6 mice

The ventromedial nucleus of the hypothalamus (VMH) is thought to a satiety center and a potential target for anti-obesity therapy. Electroconvulsive seizure (ECS) therapy is highly effective in psychiatric diseases including depression, but also implicated beneficial effects on other neurological diseases. Although it has been reported that the neurons in the VMH are strongly activated by ECS stimulation, the effect of ECS in this hypothalamic subnucleus remains unknown. To address this issue, we investigated molecular changes in the VMH in response to ECS by utilizing a method of laser-capture microdissection coupled with microarray analysis, and examined behavioral effects of ECS via VMH activation. ECS significantly induced gene expression not only immediate-early genes such as Fos, Fosb and Jun, but also Bdnf, Adcyap1, and Hrh1 in the VMH after a single or repeated stimulus.

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