Involvement of thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH)-containing neurons in MDMA toxicity

The purpose of this study was to establish a procedure for identifying thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH)-containing neurons in the hypothalamus of a rat brain. Data gained from this can be used to further study MDMA toxicity. First we used a cryostat to slice the brains and obtain the hypothalamic neurons. Utilizing immunocytochemical techniques, TRH containing cells were identified with anti-TRH antibodies. For a positive control, we compared the established approach of examining corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF)-containing neurons with our approach of examining TRH neurons. We found that the images of TRH-containing cells were relatively unclear, implicating a quality problem of anti-TRH antibodies used in this study. Further investigation using in situ mRNA hybridization will likely clarify the involvement of TRH in MDMA toxicity.