| Project/Area Number |
08671099
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
Psychiatric science
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| Research Institution | Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine |
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Principal Investigator |
KAWAKAMI Fumio Dept.of Psychiatry, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Associate professor, 医学部, 助教授 (60186062)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
OKAMURA Hitoshi Dept.of Anatomy and Brain Science, Kobe University School of Medicine, professor, 医学部, 教授 (60158813)
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| Project Period (FY) |
1996 – 1997
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| Project Status |
Completed (Fiscal Year 1997)
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| Budget Amount *help |
¥2,200,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,200,000)
Fiscal Year 1997: ¥1,100,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,100,000)
Fiscal Year 1996: ¥1,100,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,100,000)
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| Keywords | Vasoactive intestinal peptide / Suprachiasmatic nucleus / In situ hybridization / Aging / Rat |
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| Research Abstract |
Age-related decreases in circadian oscillating activity are speculated to be one of the cause of psychiatric symptoms. To explore the effect of aging and melatonin on vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) synthesis in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), we investigated the changes in VIP mRNA levels in aged rats compared with young-adult rats under a light/dark cycle using in situ hybridization combined with microcomputer-based imaging analysis. In the young-adult rats, total signals of VIP mRNA on the light-phase showed a significant decrease compared with those on the dark-phase. The VIP signal level in the aged rats was markedly lower than that in young-adults in both light and dark phases. Moreover, in the aged rats, there were no significant defferences in VIP mRNA level between the light and dark phases. On the other hand, melatonin administration (1mu g/kg) was occured an increase in total signals of VIP mRNA of the aged rats during both light and dark phases. The present result suggests that gene expression of VIP neurons, a main component of the circadian oscillating system, becomes disturbed in the aged rat brain.
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