Summary
InRana esculenta the activity of the hypothalamo-hypophysial system has been investigated in intact and blinded animals, after removal of the frontal organ and after elimination of the whole pineal complex.
The results on intact and blinded animals are practically the same as those found earlier inRana temporaria. Light increases the activity of the preoptic nucleus, blinding changes the difference between light- and darkness-treated intact animals.
Compared with the intact animals the other two groups (without frontal organ and without pineal complex) show a marked increase in incorporation of35S-cysteine in the preoptic nucleus. A difference between the animals without frontal organ and those without pineal complex, however, can hardly be observed. It follows that the absence of the frontal organ has the same influence on the preoptic nucleus as elimination of the whole pineal complex. In intact animals the influence of the frontal organ on the preoptic nucleus consists of an inhibition of neurosecretory activity as well under light as under darkness conditions.
The enhanced synthesis of labelled material in the preoptic nucleus after removal of the frontal organ, results in a transport along the hypothalamo-hypophysial tract mainly to the outer zone of the median eminence and not to the posterior lobe.
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The author wish to acknowledge gratefully Prof. Dr. J. C. van de Kamer and Dr. F.C.G. van de Veerdonk for critically reading the manuscript, Miss Suzan van de Kamp and Mr. R. Bleumink for their technical assistance and Mr. J. J. van der Vlis for drawing the graphs.
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Vullings, H.G.B. Influence of light and darkness on the hypothalamo-hypophysial system ofRana esculenta and the involvement of the pineal complex. Z.Zellforsch 146, 491–500 (1973). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02347178
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02347178