In rats, the hormone ghrelin (the same one that makes you hungry) directly excites neurons in a brain area that controls waking and REM sleep. It does this by binding to its receptor and making the cells less leaky to potassium, which makes them fire more. The study shows this effect happens even when other nerve signals are blocked, meaning ghrelin works right on the cells themselves.

Ghrelin, a gut and brain peptide, is a potent stimulant for growth hormone (GH) secretion and feeding. Recent studies further show a critical role of ghrelin in the regulation of sleep-wakefulness. Laterodorsal tegmental nucleus (LDT), that regulates waking and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, expresses GH secretagogue receptors (GHS-Rs). Thus, the present study was carried out to examine electrophysiological effects of ghrelin on LDT neurons using rat brainstem slices, and to determine the ionic mechanism involved. Whole cell recording revealed that ghrelin depolarizes LDT neurons dose-dependently in normal artificial cerebrospinal fluid (ACSF). The depolarization persisted in tetrodotoxin-containing ACSF (TTX ACSF), and is partially blocked by the application of [D-Lys3]-GHRP-6, a selective antagonist for GHS-Rs. Membrane resistance during the ghrelin-induced depolarization increased by about 18% than that before the depolarization. In addition, the ghrelin-induced depolarization was drastically reduced in high-K+ TTX ACSF with a K+ concentration of 13.25 mM. Reversal potentials obtained from I-V curves before and during the depolarization were about -83 mV, close to the equilibrium potential of the K+ channel. Most of the LDT neurons recorded were characterized by an A-current or both the A-current and a low threshold Ca2+ spike, and they were predominantly cholinergic. These results indicate that ghrelin depolarizes LDT neurons postsynaptically and dose-dependently via GHS-Rs, and that the ionic mechanisms underlying the ghrelin-induced depolarization include a decrease of K+ conductance. The results also suggest that LDT neurons are implicated in the cellular processes through which ghrelin participates in the regulation of sleep-wakefulness.