ISSN:
1432-1106
Keywords:
Preoptic area
;
Opioid binding
;
Diprenorphine
;
Noradrenergic transmission
;
Ventral noradrenergic tract lesion
;
Autoradiography
;
Rat
Source:
Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
Topics:
Medicine
Notes:
Summary Experiments were undertaken to establish whether opioid receptors exert a direct presynaptic influence on noradrenergic (NA) terminals in the preoptic/ anterior hypothalamus (PO/AH) of the female rat. Thus, opioid binding studies were performed in rats with lesions of the ventral NA tract (VNAT; the main NA projection to the hypothalamus) to assess whether a loss of NA terminals may also result in a decrease in opioid binding in the PO/AH. In the first experiment, unilateral electrolytic lesions of the VNAT caused a significant reduction in both the NA content and specific [3H]-diprenorphine binding to membrane homogenates in the ipsilateral PO/AH. In the second experiment bilateral 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA)-induced lesions of the VNAT caused a significant reduction in NA levels in the PO/AH as well as significant decreases in the density of [3H]-diprenorphine binding to tissue sections of the PO/AH when compared to control animals. These results strongly suggest that the NA input to the PO/AH is regulated by endogenous opioid peptides, and provide an anatomical substrate to explain opioid-NA interactions in the control of gonadotrophin releasing hormone (GnRH) and gonadotrophin secretion.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF00230005
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