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. 2011 Oct 25;2:57. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2011.00057

Figure 2.

Figure 2

Proposed role for the ventral premammillary nucleus (PMV) in the female reproductive physiology. The PMV integrates environmental cues (odors in rodents and daylight in seasonal breeders) and signals from the internal milieu related to the reproductive status (sex steroids) and energy store (leptin and insulin). PMV neurons express excitatory neurotransmitters (e.g., glutamate and nitric oxide) and directly project to the anteroventral periventricular nucleus (AVPV), to the arcuate nucleus (ARH), and to gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) neurons. Once stimulated, PMV neurons activate the target sites inducing GnRH release and LH secretion from the pituitary gland.