Contribution of paraventricular nucleus to afferent renal nerve pressor response

Experiments were done in alpha-chloralose-anesthetized, paralyzed, and artificially ventilated cats to determine the effect of afferent renal nerve (ARN) stimulation on the firing frequency of neurons in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVH), whose axons project directly to the neurohypophysis (NH), and the contribution of these neurons to the pressor response elicited by ARN stimulation. In the first series of experiments, 474 single units were extracellularly recorded in the PVH region. Of these units 86 were antidromically excited by stimulation of the NH. Seventeen of the antidromic units (20%) responded orthodromically to ARN stimulation; 10 responded to ARN stimulation only, and 7 units responded to both ARN and buffer nerve stimulation. All PVH-NH-projecting neurons that responded to ARN stimulation were excited. In the second series the contribution of PVH neurons to the pressor response elicited by ARN stimulation was investigated in animals with the aortic depressor, carotid sinus, vagus, and cervical sympathetic nerves cut bilaterally. The ARN pressor response has previously been shown to be due to the activation of the sympathetic nervous system and to the release of arginine vasopressin (AVP). The primary and secondary (AVP component) components of the pressor response were attenuated by 51 and 69%, respectively, by bilateral injections of procaine hydrochloride into PVH or bilateral electrolytic lesions of PVH. Control injections of saline into PVH or electrolytic lesions of hypothalamic regions anterior, dorsal, or ventral to PVH did not alter the ARN pressor response. These experiments demonstrate that sensory information originating in renal receptors excites magnocellular neurosecretory neurons in PVH and suggest that this renal-paraventricular reflex loop may contribute to the elevated arterial pressure and AVP release during conditions when ARN are activated.