Identification of dopamine, gonadotrophin-releasing hormone-I, and vasoactive intestinal peptide neurones activated by electrical stimulation to the medial preoptic area of the turkey hypothalamus: a potential reproductive neuroendocrine circuit.

The neural and neurochemical substrates regulating reproduction in birds remain vaguely defined. The findings that electrical stimulation in the medial preoptic area (ES/MPOA) or intracerebroventricular infusion of dopamine (DA) stimulated luteinising hormone (LH) and prolactin (PRL) release in female turkeys, led to the suggestion that ES/MPOA might help to clarify the DA circuitry regulating LH and PRL. We used c-fos mRNA and tyrosine hydroxylase immunoreactivity as measured by double in situ hybridisation/immunocytochemistry (ISH/ICC) to determine which group/subgroup of DA neurones was activated following unilateral ES/MPOA. To establish that the reproductive neuroendocrine system was activated, double ISH/ICC was also conducted on c-fos/gonadotrophin-releasing hormone-I (GnRH-I) and c-fos/vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP). Changes in circulating LH and PRL were determined by radioimmunoassay. Unilateral ES/MPOA (100 microA, right side) of anaesthetised laying turkeys for 30 min increased circulating LH and PRL levels. It also induced c-fos mRNA expression on the ipsilateral side by all GnRH-I neurones within the septopreoptic region, implying that GnRH-I neurones in this region share similar circuitry. VIP neurones within the nucleus infundibularis were the only VIP group to show c-fos mRNA expression, suggesting their involvement in ES/MPOA induced PRL release. c-fos mRNA expression was also observed in a subgroup of DA neurones in the nucleus mamillaris lateralis (ML). To our knowledge, the present study is the first to show that activation of DAergic cells in the ML is associated with the activation of GnRH-I and VIP neurones and the release of LH and PRL. It is likely that ES/MPOA activated VIP/GnRH-I neurones via activation of DA neurones in the ML, as this was the only DA subgroup that showed c-fos mRNA expression.