Abstract P177: Intermittent Hypoxia Attenuates Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone Receptor 2 (CRHR2) mRNA and CRHR2-Mediated Calcium Influx in Neurons in the Nucleus of the Solitary Tract

Studies have suggested that corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) originating within the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVN) acts in the nucleus of the solitary tract (NTS) to regulate sympathetic and cardiovascular functions, but the anatomical distributions and cellular actions of CRH receptors (CRHRs) in the NTS are not fully understood. We conducted in situ hybridization for CRH type 1 and type 2 receptors (CRHR1 and CRHR2) in Crl:CD(SD) rats and present mRNA levels as the total pixel gray values of positive staining calculated by ImageJ. The mRNA level of CRHR2 was significantly higher than CRHR1 (1.97 ± 0.1 x 10 7 , n=4 vs. 4.56 ± 0.92 x 10 6 , n=4; p 7 , n=4 vs. 1.3 ± 0.22 x 10 7 , n=3; P