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Ultrastructural observations on the hypothalamo-posthypophysial complex of the Brattleboro rat

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Summary

The hypothalamo-posthypophysial complex of the homozygous Brattleboro rat is characterized by a hyperactivity of its neurons. The neurosecretory fibers, especially in the neurohypophysis, show numerous signs of autophagy and tubular proliferation of the axoplasmic reticulum. These structural alterations, as well as the nematosomes or nucleolus-like bodies encountered in the perikarya, may be related to the chronic hyperactivity of the neurons. They can be reduced by administration of exogenous vasopressin. The numerous liposomes in the pituicytes are paralleled in the neuronal perikarya by a great number of lysosomes. Small dense core vesicles observed in the neurosecretory endings and perikarya may indicate a secretory product distinct from oxytocin and vasopressin. In the homozygous Brattleboro rat, endings of the aminergic type are more numerous than in the normal rat. With respect to the role they may play in the secretory processes, their increase might be secondary to the vasopressin deficiency.

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  1. Faculté de Médecine, Equipe de Recherche Associée au C.N.R.S. srn∘ 322, Laboratoire d'Histologie 1, Marseille, France

    F. Tasso & S. Rua

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  1. F. Tasso
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  2. S. Rua
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Acknowledgements. This work was supported in part by a grant from the INSERM (C.R.L. n∘ 73.10.917). The authors wish to thank the Institut für medizinisch-biologische Forschung, Fillensdorf, for supplying Brattleboro rats, and Prof. J.J. Dreifuss for providing experimental facilities at the Department of Physiology, Medical School, Geneva. The help of Mrs. J. Bottini in the preparation of the manuscript is also thankfully acknowledged

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Tasso, F., Rua, S. Ultrastructural observations on the hypothalamo-posthypophysial complex of the Brattleboro rat. Cell Tissue Res. 191, 267–286 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00222424

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