COEXISTENCE OF OXYTOCIN AND NADPH-DIAPHORASE IN MAGNOCELLULAR NEURONS OF THE PARAVENTRICULAR AND THE SUPRAOPTIC NUCLEI OF THE RAT HYPOTHALAMUS

被引:113
作者
MIYAGAWA, A [1 ]
OKAMURA, H [1 ]
IBATA, Y [1 ]
机构
[1] KYOTO PREFECTURAL UNIV MED,DEPT ANAT,KAMIKYO KU,KYOTO 602,JAPAN
关键词
NITRIC OXIDE SYNTHASE; NADPH-DIAPHORASE; VASOPRESSIN; OXYTOCIN; HYPOTHALAMUS; RAT;
D O I
10.1016/0304-3940(94)90592-4
中图分类号
Q189 [神经科学];
学科分类号
071006 ;
摘要
Nitric oxide (NO), which was firstly identified as an endothelium-derived relaxing factor, has recently been demonstrated to be a neurotransmitter in the central and peripheral nervous systems. In the hypothalammus, abundant nitric oxide synthase (NOS) immunoreactivity and its histochemical marker, NADPH-diaphorase activity, have been demonstrated in the hypothalamo-neurohypophyseal system. In the present study, we examined whether NOS is coexpressed with posterior pituitary hormones in the rat hypothalamus by combination of oxytocin and vasopressin immunofluorescence and NADPH-diaphorase histochemistry. Most oxytocin-immunoreactive neurons in the paraventricular and supraoptic nuclei expressed NADPH-diaphorase activity, but virtually no vasopressin-immunoreactive neurons contained NADPH-diaphorase activity. This suggests that oxytocin neurons are the main source of NO production in the hypothalamic-pituitary system.
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页码:13 / 16
页数:4
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