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Ultrastructural changes in the median eminence of the rat following deafferentation of the basal hypothalamus

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Summary

This report concerns a light and electron microscopic investigation of the median eminence and dorsal infundibular stem of the rat following surgical isolation (deafferentation). Using a modification of the Halász technique, the basal hypothalamus, including the arcuate nucleus and median eminence were surgically isolated from surrounding structures. Special attention was directed to the contact (external) zone of the median eminence and rostral infundibulum where tuberohypophyseal axons as well as ependymal cell processes abut upon the abluminal basement membrane of the portal perivascular space. The results of this study to date suggest that 9, 20, and 40 days following surgical isolation, there is a distinct increase in the population of tuberohypophyseal dense core vesicles. It is suggested that deafferentation abolishes inhibitory and excitatory input that serves to modify the cellular dynamics of tuberohypophyseal neurosecretory elements. Comments are also made on the presence of cistern-like structures in the lateral median eminence; the presence of vesicle-like inclusions in terminal ependymal processes is discussed in relationship to the role that ependyma may play in linking the third ventricle with the adenohypophysis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anatomy, University of Rochester, School of Medicine and Dentistry, 14620, Rochester, New York, USA

    David E. Scott & Karl M. Knigge

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  1. David E. Scott
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  2. Karl M. Knigge
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This research was supported by USPHS Grants NB 08171 and AM 10002. The authors are indebted to the excellent technical assistance provided by G. Krobisch Dudley. Further, the authors wish to express their thanks to Dr. Adolph Weindl for his valuable advice and criticism, and to Matilde Holzwarth for her helpful assistance.

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Scott, D.E., Knigge, K.M. Ultrastructural changes in the median eminence of the rat following deafferentation of the basal hypothalamus. Z. Zellforsch. 105, 1–32 (1970). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00340562

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