A novel function of anti-diuretic hormone vasopressin in the brain
Preventing the vasopressin neurons from swelling, and maintaining their size
2011-01-21
(Press-News.org) The anti-diuretic hormone "vasopressin" is released from the brain, and known to work in the kidney, suppressing the diuresis. Here, the Japanese research team led by Professor Yasunobu OKADA, Director-General of National Institute for Physiological Sciences (NIPS), and Ms. Kaori SATO, a graduate student of The Graduate University for Advanced Studies, clarified the novel function of "vasopressin" that works in the brain, as well as in the kidney via the same type of the vasopressin receptor, to maintain the size of the vasopressin neurons. It might be a useful result for clarification of the condition of cerebral edema which swells along with the brain trauma or the cerebral infarction, and for its treatment method development. This result of the study is reported in the Science Signaling magazine (issue on January 25, 2011) which is the offshoot of Science magazine published by American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
The research team focused on the vasopressin neurons which exist in a hypothalamus of the brain. The vasopressin is essentially released from the vasopressin neurons into blood circulation and acts on the kidney as anti-diuretic, when the blood plasma becomes more concentrated. In contrast, they ascertained that the vasopressin neurons release the vasopressin into the brain, not in blood, when the surrounding body fluid becomes more diluted than usual. Usually, the more diluted the body fluid becomes, the bigger the neuronal cell swells. However, their finding shows that the vasopressin in the brain maintains the size of the vasopressin neurons even when the body fluid becomes more diluted. In addition, it was clarified that the vasopressin sensor protein (receptor) which was currently considered to be only in the kidney, was related to this function in the brain.
This study became possible by labeling vasopressin neurons of the rat brain hypothalamus with green fluorescent protein (GFP)．(The transgenic rat was developed by Professor Yoichi UETA; University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Japan)
Professor OKADA says that "It is a surprising result that the same type of the vasopressin receptor as the kidney exists in the brain and the vasopressin works on it. It can be expected to clarify the condition of cerebral edema which swells along with the brain trauma or the cerebral infarction, and to develop its treatment method.
INFORMATION:
This result is supported by Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research, the MEXT, Japan.
END
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
2011-01-21
Humans use their senses to help keep track of short intervals of time according to new research, which suggests that our perception of time is not maintained by an internal body clock alone.
Scientists from UCL (University College London) set out to answer the question "Where does our sense of time come from?" Their results show that it comes partly from observing how much the world changes, as we have learnt to expect our sensory inputs to change at a particular 'average' rate. Comparing the change we see to this average value helps us judge how much time has passed, ...
2011-01-21
For centuries, some of the greatest names in math have tried to make sense of partition numbers, the basis for adding and counting. Many mathematicians added major pieces to the puzzle, but all of them fell short of a full theory to explain partitions. Instead, their work raised more questions about this fundamental area of math.
On Friday, Emory mathematician Ken Ono will unveil new theories that answer these famous old questions.
Ono and his research team have discovered that partition numbers behave like fractals. They have unlocked the divisibility properties of ...
2011-01-21
SPOKANE, Wash.— Washington State University sleep researchers have determined that the air traffic controller in the crash of a Lexington, Ky., commuter flight was substantially fatigued when he failed to detect that the plane was on the wrong runway and cleared it for takeoff.
Writing in the journal Accident Analysis and Prevention, the researchers come short of saying his fatigue caused the accident. But they say their findings suggest that mathematical models predicting fatigue could lead to schedules that reduce the risk of accidents by taking advantage of workers' ...
2011-01-21
The ESHRE Task Force on Ethics and Law acknowledges the benefits that IMAR may bring to those choosing this approach and concludes that certain forms of IMAR are morally acceptable under certain conditions. The group advises to evaluate each request for IMAR individually, based on four ethical principles in health care: the respect for autonomy, beneficence and non-maleficence and justice.
The Task Force explains that the right for individual autonomy is elementary: any individual should have the principle of choice with whom to reproduce. It is understandable that couples ...
2011-01-21
Depending on the level of smoking and dietary vitamin C intake, vitamin E supplementation may extend the life-span of restricted groups of men, according to a study published in the Age and Ageing.
Several large randomized trials of humans found that vitamin E supplementation does not reduce mortality. However, the average effect on mortality in a group of people with a wide age range may mask an effect of vitamin E on the life-span.
Dr. Harri Hemila, and Professor Jaakko Kaprio, of the University of Helsinki, Finland, studied the age-dependency of vitamin E effect ...
2011-01-21
Out of every 1000 patients, two at most wake up during their operation. Unintended awareness in the patient is thus classified as an occasional complication of anesthesia—but being aware of things happening during the operation, and being able to recall them later, can leave a patient with long-term psychological trauma.
How to avoid such awareness events, and what treatment is available for a patient who does experience awareness, is the subject of a report by Petra Bischoff of the Ruhr University in Bochum and Ingrid Rundshagen of the Charité Berlin in the current issue ...
2011-01-21
Unemployment has a negative impact on a worker's future salary if it continues for a long time, particularly in countries such as Spain, Italy and Portugal. This is the conclusion of a study carried out by Spanish researchers, who have analysed the impact of job loss on relative salaries in six European countries.
"Out of the countries studied, Spain, Italy and Portugal are the European Union countries in which long-term unemployment is likely to have the most negative effect on salary when the individual in question returns to work", Carlos García Serrano, a researcher ...
2011-01-21
A prototype computer game has been developed to help improve decision making skills in all aspects of our lives.
Supported by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), a team at Queen's University Belfast has developed a prototype that could be built on by commercial games manufacturers and turned into an e-learning or training tool for professionals in all walks of life – and for the general public too.
Alternatively, some of its features could be incorporated into existing computer games that have a strategy element.
The team has explored ...
2011-01-21
A Mobile Ad hoc NETwork (MANET) or cell phone mesh network uses software to transparently hook together numerous active cell phones in a location to provide greater bandwidth and better network connections by allowing users to share "spare" resources while they use their phones, making data transfers faster and smoother.
However, the usefulness of such ad hoc networks can be offset by vulnerabilities. Like any network, a MANET can be susceptible to attack from people with malicious intent. Illicit users might, for instance, hook up to such a network and impersonate a ...
2011-01-21
Research conducted at the University of Granada warns about the negative effects of the so-called "benevolent sexism", a term used for apparently "positive" ideas and attitudes of men towards women, which are based on the assumption that men must take care of and sacrifice themselves for women.
The research revealed that when individuals are told that a man has attitudes socially considered as "good" towards his wife –even although those attitudes are sexist– they tend to justify sexual violence within the couple and to exonerate the man (as they consider that he is entitled ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
[Press-News.org] A novel function of anti-diuretic hormone vasopressin in the brain
Preventing the vasopressin neurons from swelling, and maintaining their size
