Abstract
Neural substrates for estrogen regulation of glucose homeostasis remain unclear. Female rat dorsal vagal complex (DVC) A2 noradrenergic neurons are estrogen- and metabolic-sensitive. The ventromedial hypothalamic nucleus (VMN) is a key component of the brain network that governs counter-regulatory responses to insulin-induced hypoglycemia (IIH). Here, the selective estrogen receptor-alpha (ERα) or -beta (ERβ) antagonists MPP and PHTPP were administered separately to the caudal fourth ventricle to address the premise that these hindbrain ER variants exert distinctive control of VMN reactivity to IIH in the female sex. Data show that ERα governs hypoglycemic patterns of VMN astrocyte glycogen metabolic enzyme, e.g. glycogen synthase and phosphorylase protein expression, whereas ERβ mediates local glycogen breakdown. DVC ERs also regulate VMN neurotransmitter signaling of energy sufficiency [γ-aminobutyric acid] or deficiency [nitric oxide, steroidogenic factor-1] during IIH. Neither hindbrain ER mediates IIH-associated diminution of VMN norepinephrine (NE) content. Both ERs oppose hypoglycemic hyperglucagonemia, while ERβ contributes to reduced corticosterone output. Outcomes reveal that input from the female hindbrain to the VMN is critical for energy reserve mobilization, metabolic transmitter signaling, and counter-regulatory hormone secretion during hypoglycemia, and that ERs control those cues. Evidence that VMN NE content is not controlled by hindbrain ERα or -β implies that these receptors may regulate VMN function via NE-independent mechanisms, or alternatively, that other neurotransmitter signals to the VMN may control local substrate receptivity to NE.