IMMUNOCYTOCHEMICAL LOCALIZATION OF NEUROPEPTIDE FF (FMRF AMIDE-LIKE PEPTIDE) IN THE HYPOTHALAMONEUROHYPOPHYSEAL SYSTEM OF WISTAR AND BRATTLEBORO RATS BY LIGHT AND ELECTRON-MICROSCOPY

Neuropeptide FF (F8Famide, FMRFamide-like, or morphine modulating peptide) immunoreactivity was localized by light and electron microscopy in the hypothalamo-neurohypophyseal system of Wistar and Brattleboro rats. In Wistar rats neuropeptide FF was present in part of the magnocellular neurones of the paraventricular and supraoptic nuclei in which it was coexpresed with vasopressin. Neuropeptide FF containing fibres were present in the paraventricular and the supraoptic nuclei, and in the central part of the neural lobe. At the electron microscopic level, neuropeptide FF containing nerve terminals in the neural lobe formed synaptoid contacts exclusively with pituicytes. No neuropeptide FF containing neurovascular contacts or contacts with other neuronal structures were observed. In contrast with Wistar rats, neuropeptide FF was almost completely absent in cell bodies of the paraventricular and supraoptic nuclei, and in fibres of the neural lobe in Brattleboro rats. Only a few solitary cells could be observed in these structures. The present results demonstrate that neuropeptide FF coexists with vasopressin within the hypothalamo-neurohypophyseal system. As we did not observe neuropeptide FF containing neurovascular contacts, neuropeptide FF containing nerve terminals probably have a local function within the neural lobe. Neuropeptide FF may be involved in the modulation of oxytocin and vasopressin release, with the pituicyte as an intermediate cell. (C) 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.