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Angiotensin II increases the firing activity of pallidal neurons and participates in motor control in rats

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Abstract

The globus pallidus has emerged as a crucial node in the basal ganglia motor control circuit under both healthy and parkinsonian states. Previous studies have shown that angiotensin II (Ang II) and angiotensin subtype 1 receptor (AT1R) are closely related to Parkinson’s disease (PD). Recent morphological study revealed the expression of AT1R in the globus pallidus of mice. To investigate the functions of Ang II/AT1R on the globus pallidus neurons of both normal and parkinsonian rats, electrophysiological recordings and behavioral tests were performed in the present study. Electrophysiological recordings showed that exogenous and endogenous Ang II mainly excited the globus pallidus neurons through AT1R. Behavioral tests further demonstrated that unilateral microinjection of Ang II into the globus pallidus induced significantly contralateral-biased swing in elevated body swing test (EBST), and bilateral microinjection of Ang II into the globus pallidus alleviated catalepsy and akinesia caused by haloperidol. AT1R was involved in Ang II-induced behavioral effects. Immunostaining showed that AT1R was expressed in the globus pallidus of rats. On the basis of the present findings, we concluded that pallidal Ang II/AT1R alleviated parkinsonian motor deficits through activating globus pallidus neurons, which will provide a rationale for further investigations into the potential of Ang II in the treatment of motor disorders originating from the basal ganglia.

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This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant number 31671076 and 32200939).

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  1. Department of Physiology, School of Basic Medicine, Qingdao University, Qingdao, China

    Hongxia Liu, Yan Xue & Lei Chen

  2. Department of Physiology, Binzhou Medical University, Yantai, China

    Hongxia Liu

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HongXia Liu performed the experiment, analyzed the data and drafted the manuscript. Lei Chen and Yan Xue designed the research and revised the manuscript. All authors contributed to manuscript revision, read, and approved the submitted version.

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Liu, H., Xue, Y. & Chen, L. Angiotensin II increases the firing activity of pallidal neurons and participates in motor control in rats. Metab Brain Dis 38, 573–587 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11011-022-01127-w

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