ArticlePsychopharmacology2016
Pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP) in the central nucleus of the amygdala induces anxiety via melanocortin receptors.
Article in Psychopharmacology, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed, 42 citations in OpenAlex.
- Lateral septal PACAP signaling regulates stress and anxiety reactions.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026Article
- The pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide receptor and its splice variants: Unique roles in affective and motivated behavior.Journal of neuroendocrinology · 2026Review
- PACAP regulates neuroendocrine and behavioral stress responses via CRF-containing neurons of the rat hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2025Article
- Pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide plays a role in neuropsychiatric and substance use disorders: sex-specific perspective.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2025Review
- Pituitary adenylyl cyclase-activating polypeptide modulates the stress response: the involvement of different brain areas and microglia.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2024Review
- Article
- The functional heterogeneity of PACAP: Stress, learning, and pathology.Neurobiology of learning and memory · 2023Review
- Circulating PACAP levels are associated with increased amygdala-default mode network resting-state connectivity in posttraumatic stress disorder.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2023Article
- Sex-related differences in endogenous pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP) in the thalamic paraventricular nucleus: Implications for addiction neuroscience.Addiction neuroscience · 2023Article
- Anxiety and Depression: What Do We Know of Neuropeptides?Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- Pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide type 1 receptor within the nucleus accumbens core mediates excessive alcohol drinking in alcohol-preferring rats.Neuropharmacology · 2022Article
- Melanocortin-4 receptor signaling in the central amygdala mediates chronic inflammatory pain effects on nociception.Neuropharmacology · 2022Article
- At the heart of the interoception network: Influence of the parasubthalamic nucleus on autonomic functions and motivated behaviors.Neuropharmacology · 2022Review
- Review
- Antagonism of Sigma-1 receptor blocks heavy alcohol drinking and associated hyperalgesia in male mice.Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research · 2021Article
- Effects of pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide isoforms in nucleus accumbens subregions on ethanol drinking.Addiction biology · 2021Article
- Prefrontal cortex PACAP signaling: organization and role in stress regulation.Stress (Amsterdam, Netherlands) · 2021Article
- Role of the PACAP system of the extended amygdala in the acoustic startle response in rats.Neuropharmacology · 2019Article
- Neuropeptides at the crossroad of fear and hunger: a special focus on neuropeptide Y.Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences · 2019Review
- A Molecular Dynamics Study of Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide Receptor 1 and the Basis of Its Therapeutic Antagonism.International journal of molecular sciences · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
rationaleAnxiety disorders are the most common mental disorders in the USA. Characterized by feelings of uncontrollable apprehension, they are accompanied by physical, affective, and behavioral symptoms. The neuropeptide pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP) and its receptor PAC1 (PAC1R) are highly expressed in the central nucleus of the amygdala (CeA), and they have gained growing attention for their proposed role in mediating the body's response to stress.
objectivesThe aim of this study was to evaluate the anxiogenic effects of PACAP in the CeA and its effects on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. Furthermore, the mechanism of action of PACAP in the CeA was investigated.
methodsPACAP was microinfused into the CeA of rats, and its effects in the elevated plus maze (EPM), the defensive withdrawal tests, and plasma corticosterone levels were evaluated. The ability of the melanocortin receptor antagonist SHU9119 to block PACAP effect in the EPM was assessed.
resultsIntra-CeA PACAP exerted a dose-dependent anxiogenic effect and activated the HPA axis. In contrast, PACAP microinfused into the basolateral nucleus of the amygdala (BlA) had no effect. Finally, the anxiogenic effect of intra-CeA PACAP was prevented by SHU9119.
conclusionsThese data prove an anxiogenic role for the PACAP system of the CeA and reveal that the melanocortin receptor 4 (MC4R) system of CeA mediates these effects. Our data provide insights into this neuropeptide system as a mechanism for modulating the behavioral and endocrine response to stress and suggest that dysregulations of this system may contribute to the pathophysiology of anxiety-related disorders.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.