Comparison of the Number of Vasopressin‐Producing Hypothalamic Neurons in Rats and Humans
- 1 August 1995
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Wiley in Journal of Neuroendocrinology
- Vol. 7 (8) , 629-636
- https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2826.1995.tb00801.x
Abstract
The aim of this study was to assess the number and proportion of vasopressin‐producing neurons in the hypothalamic magnocellular nuclei in rats and humans. Accurate and unbiased neuronal counts were estimated using the optical disector method. Arginine vasopressin‐containing neurons were immunohistochemically visualized in formalin‐fixed tissue sections. The magnocellular neurons were similar in size and morphology in both species. While the human hypothalamus contained significantly more vasopressin‐containing neurons compared with the rat (36‐fold increase), the proportion of vasopressin‐containing neurons between species was similar. In both species, the majority of supraoptic neurons contained vasopressin, however the proportion of vasopressin‐containing neurons in the human paraventricular nucleus was double that of the rat (nearly a 100‐fold increase in number). These results suggest that the paraventricular nucleus contributes significantly to the release of vasopressin from the posterior pituitary in humans, whereas in rats vasopressin is mainly released by supraoptic neurons.Keywords
This publication has 44 references indexed in Scilit:
- Immunocytochemical and in situ hybridization detection of hypothalamic neuropeptides from postmortem unfixed rat brainsNeuroscience Letters, 1992
- Ontogeny of Diabetes Insipidus in the Brattleboro Rat: Morphological and Physiological CorrelatesJournal of Neuroendocrinology, 1990
- Quantitative and Morphometric Parameters Determining the Development of the Supraoptic Nucleus in the Albino RatCells Tissues Organs, 1988
- Relative Importance of Sympathetic Nerves and of Circulating Adrenaline and Vasopressin in Mediating Hypertension After Lesions of the Caudal Ventrolateral Medulla in the RatJournal Of Hypertension, 1986
- Neuron numbers in hypothalamic nuclei in young, middle-aged and aged male ratsCellular and Molecular Life Sciences, 1985
- CYTOPLASMIC PEPTIDE CONTENT AND NUCLEAR ESTROGEN BINDING OF MAGNOCELLULAR NEURONS IN THE HYPOTHALAMUS OF LONG‐EVANS AND BRATTLEBORO RATS*Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1982
- Increased Thirst and Plasma Arginine Vasopressin Levels during 2-Deoxy-d-glucose-induced Glucoprivation in HumansJournal of Clinical Investigation, 1981
- Morphology of the accessory neurosecretory nuclei and of the retrochiasmatic part of the supraoptic nucleus of the ratCells Tissues Organs, 1971
- THE TIME COURSE OF RETROGRADE NEURON LOSS IN THE HYPOTHALAMIC MAGNOCELLULAR NUCLEI OF MANBrain, 1970
- A QUANTITATIVE EVALUATION OF HYPOTHALAMIC DEGENERATION AND ITS RELATION TO DIABETES INSIPIDUS FOLLOWING INTERRUPTION OF THE HUMAN HYPOPHYSEAL STALKBrain, 1963