EFFECTS OF CHRONIC ALCOHOL INTAKE ON THE VASOPRESSIN CONTENT IN THE HYPOTHALAMIC PARAVENTRICULAR AND SUPRAOPTIC NUCLEI OF THE MOUSE - AN IMMUNOHISTOCHEMICAL AND MORPHOMETRIC STUDY

The present study analyses the response of the paraventricular (PVN) and supraoptic (SPO) nuclei of the hypothalamus of the male mouse to chronic alcohol intake by immunohistochemical and morphometric methods. We relate the intensity of the reaction to A-V with the vasopressin content of the nucleus, as all the slides, from the control and experimental groups, were processed at the same time and with the same solutions of the antibodies. We suggest that the accumulation of vasopressin, observed in the alcohol-treated animals, of both hypothalamic nuclei could be related to an inhibition of vasopressin release and/or transport from the SPO and PVN to the neurohypophysis and to an increase in vasopressin synthesis in the SPO as this nucleus shows an increase in its nuclear sizes, an index of the function of the neurons.