Summary
The effects of chronic lesions in the median eminance on water exchange and the morphological condition of the hypothalamo-posthypophyseal system were studied in the rat. A relationship between cell loss in the supraoptic nuclei and increase in water intake was observed. However, no close inverse correlation between the number of cells in the supraoptic nuclei and water intake could be demonstrated.
On the other hand, complete disconnection of the hypothalamo-posthypophyseal tracts from the posterior pituitary was observed in nearly all animals in which water intake was above the normal level. In contrast, water exchange remained with few exceptions within the normal range in animals, in which disconnection of the hypothalamo-posthypophyseal tracts from the posterior pituitary was incomplete.
Regeneration of posterior lobe-like tissue was regularly observed in the median eminence of operated rats. However, it was quantitatively much less pronounced than in hypophysectomized and posterior lobectomized animals, in which a distinct miniature substitute posterior lobe develops. Moreover, the regenerated posterior lobe-like tissue of animals with lesions in the median eminence appeared to have a much lower capacity to release its hormonal material than the normal posterior pituitary gland under the conditions of these experiments.
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Moll, J. Observations on water exchange and the morphological condition of the hypothalamo-posthypophyseal system in rats with lesions in the median eminence. Z. Anat. Entwickl. Gesch. 124, 184–195 (1964). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00525471
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00525471