PHARMACOLOGY FACULTY
Selected Publications
  • Gottlieb HB, Fleming T, JI LL, and Cunningham JT. (2007) Identification of CNS sites involved in the water diuresis response elicited by central microinjection of nociceptin/orphanin FQ in conscious rats via c-Fos and ICER immunocytochemistry. J Neuroendocrinol (in press).
  • Ji LL, Gottlieb HB, Penny ML, Fleming T, Toney GM, and Cunningham JT. (2007) Differential effects of water deprivation and rehydration on Fos and FosB/DeltaFosB staining in the rat brainstem. Exp. Neurol., 203:445-56.
  • Cunningham JT, Herrera-Rosales M, Martinez MA, and Mifflin S. (2007) Identification of active central nervous system sites in renal wrap hypertensive rats. Hypertension, 49:653-8.
  • Mueller PJ, Sullivan MJ, Grindstaff RR, Cunningham JT, and Hasser EM. (2006) Regulation of plasma vasopressin and renin activity in conscious hindlimb-unloaded rats. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol, 291:R46-52.
  • Mueller PJ, Foley CM, Heesch CM, Cunningham JT, Zheng H, Patel KP, and Hasser EM. (2006) Increased nitric oxide synthase activity and expression in the hypothalamus of hindlimb unloaded rats. Brain Res. 1115(1):65-74.
  • Gottlieb HB, Ji LL, Jones H, Penny ML, Fleming T, and Cunningham JT. (2006) Differential effects of water and saline intake on water deprivation-induced c-Fos staining in the rat. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol, 290:R1251-61.
  • Lohmeier TE, Hildebrandt DA, Warren S, May PJ, and Cunningham, JT. (2005) Recent insights into the interactions between the baroreflex and the kidneys in hypertension. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol, 288:R828-36.
  • Ji LL, Fleming T, Penny ML, Toney GM, and Cunningham JT (2005). Effects of water deprivation and rehydration on c-Fos and FosB staining in the rat supraoptic nucleus and the lamina terminalis region. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol, 288:R311-321.
Tom Cunningham
 

Tom Cunningham

Associate Professor of Pharmacology
Ph.D., University of Iowa

Office: 210-567-4188
Email: cunninghamt@uthscsa.edu

 

View video introduction to Dr. Cunningham's lab

 

Keywords

vasopressin, supraoptic nucleus, sympathetic nervous system, hypertension, hyponatremia, angiotensin, thirst, sodium appetite

 

Research Summary

Our lab studies the role of the central nervous system, especially the hypothalamus, in body fluid homeostasis and blood pressure regulation and how the brain contributes to chronic disease states related to these systems such as hypertension, sleep apnea, congestive heart failure, and the syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone release. Our studies combine integrative physiology and pharmacology with state-of-the-art neuroscience to ask questions at the systems and cellular level. This integrative approach includes in vivo and in vitro electrophysiology, immunohistochemistry, neuroanatomical tract tracing, molecular biology, and measuring salt and water metabolism. We are funded primarily by grants from the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute. Current projects focus on the role of oropharyngeal and gastric afferents in the release of vasopressin and oxytocin from the posterior pituitary, how AP-1 transcription factors mediate changes in gene expression in the hypothalamus that produce hypertension associated with sleep apnea, how TRPV channels and BDNF in the hypothalamus contribute to inappropriate vasopressin release, and the role of vagus nerve stimulation in the treatment of depression and epilepsy.