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The hypothalamo-choroidal tract

I. Immunohistochemical demonstration of neurophysin pathways to telencephalic choroid plexuses and cerebrospinal fluid

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Summary

Neurosecretory pathways were examined in normal male rats by the use of the immunoperoxidase technique for the localization of neurophysin in Bouin-fixed, deparaffinized sections. Using this technique two projections of extrahypothalamic neurosecretory fibers can be traced to the sites of origin of the choroid plexuses of both horns of the lateral ventricles. Neurophysin-containing axons originating primarily from the paraventricular field course dorsolaterad to enter the choroid fissure of the dorsal horn. A caudally directed group of fibers course ventrolaterad to enter the ventral horn choroid fissures. The supraoptic nuclear field is the primary contributor to the latter group. Scattered neurosecretory neurons are found in association with both pathways, usually in contact with blood vessels supplying the choroid plexuses, or in the telencephalic subependymal stroma. Neurosecretory fibers and terminals occur within the choroid fissures and juxtaventricular neuropil. The neurosecretory terminals in the choroid fissures appear as Herring-body type neurohemal organs; in the neuropil they appear as punctate peri-neuronal densities suggestive of synaptic contacts. These morphologic findings are discussed in relation to reports indicating the presence of antidiuretic, vasopressin-like activity in cerebrospinal fluid and choroid plexus extracts together with ultrastructural evidence supportive of vasopressin-mediated transchoroidal cerebrospinal fluid absorption. These results and those of others indicate the possible involvement of the neurosecretory system in the regulation of brain interstitial-ventricular cerebrospinal fluid dynamics.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anatomy, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA

    Mark S. Brownfield & Gerald P. Kozlowski

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  1. Mark S. Brownfield
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  2. Gerald P. Kozlowski
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Supported by U.S.P.H.S. Grant HD-08867

This work submitted as partial requirement for the Master of Science degree in the Department of Anatomy, Colorado State University

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Brownfield, M.S., Kozlowski, G.P. The hypothalamo-choroidal tract. Cell Tissue Res. 178, 111–127 (1977). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00232829

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