No abstract

The hypothalamic supraoptic (SON) and paraventricular nuclei (PVN), median eminences (ME) and neural lobes (NL) of normally hydrated control rats (group 1), and of rats drinking 2% NaCl for 7 (group 2), 30 (group 3) or 90 days (group 4) were investigated using immunohistochemistry for neurophysins (NP), arginine vasopressin (AVP) or oxytocin (OXY). Animals from the 3 experimental groups showed equivalent decreased levels of immunoreactive NP in the SON and PVN, but the greatest decrease was in the SON. Dendrites of SON and PVN neurons became loaded progressively with immunoreactive NP, AVP and OXY as salt loading proceeded. In rats of group 2, axons leaving the SON and PVN showed a marked depletion of immunoreactive material. The latter was found mainly at the periphery of widely spaced axonal swellings, clearly contrasting with the small and narrowly spaced beads of the neurosecretory axons of control rats. In rats of groups 3 and 4, axons leaving the SON and PVN resembled those of control rats. In the ME of the animals in all experimental groups, the same degree of decrease of immunoreactive NP was observed. In rats of group 3, bundles of axons containing immunoreactive AVP and OXY frequently projected through the ependymal lining of the ME into the third ventricle. In the NL of all experimental animals, a marked decrease occurred in the amount of immunoreactive NP, AVP and OXY. The decrease of immunoreactive AVP, however, was more pronounced in rats of group 2 than in those of groups 3 and 4. The NL of rats in group 4 were approximately 80% larger than those of control rats. Particularly striking in these hypertrophied NL were networks of expanded perivascular basal lamina and large intra-axonal vacuoles. The survival of rats to the long-term salt loading and the changes observed in the hypothalamo-neurohypophysial system indicate that these animals have developed adaptive mechanisms to the salt load.

The ultrastructure of the intermediate lobe of the hypophysis was studied in Anolis carolinensis with the use of a threefold aldehyde fixative. Lizards with a brown skin were selected. The possibility of two types of secretory cells is discussed; neither cell type is innervated. Type I cells are rarely found and contain dense granules approximately 0.3 micron in diameter; Type II cells vary widely in secretory activity. Most of the Type II cells contain a large number of dense secretory granules (up to about 1.3 micron in diameter) almost filling the cytoplasm. Rough endoplasmic reticulum (RER), Golgi apparatus and mitochondria are poorly developed. Only some of these cells show signs suggesting a high secretory activity, namely a well developed RER, Golgi apparatus and numerous mitochondria. In these cells the RER sometimes forms large intracisternal droplets (up to 7 micron in diameter). Two of the animals exhibited a more uniform, high secretory activity. Large (about 2 micron in diameter), pale vacuoles, probably of extracellular character, were found mostly in the vicinity of the perivascular septum. Their role in the release of MSH is discussed. The present data, which are discussed with reference to earlier findings (Forbes, 1972), form the morphological basis for an experimental study on regulation of MSH release (Larsson et al., 1979).

Pineal glands were grafted under the kidney capsule of mature male rats for periods of 20, 40, 60 and 100 days. Each grafted gland was then excised and divided into two halves. One half was processed for conventional electron microscopy and the other was fixed in aldehydes and then incubated in a zinc-iodide-osmium tetroxide mixture at pH 4.4 (A-ZIO-4.4). During the forty days following the operation pinealocytes showed the typical ultrastructural features associated with cells with a high protein and/or peptide secretory activity. On the other hand, during this period, the number of granular vesicles decreased progressively. From day 40 on, the grafted pinealocytes lacked granular vesicles. During the second half of the experimental period the ultrastructure of the pinealocytes indicated that their secretory activity was considerably decreased. During the acute phase of the experimental period numerous structures regarded as the tip of growing axons as well as typical nerve fibres appeared around blood vessels and within the paren chyma of the grafted gland. In the transplanted tissue obtained 60 and 100 days after the operation the growth cones were scarce, whereas typical nerve endings became numerous. These endings contained small clear vesicles which reacted positively when the tissue was treated with A-ZIO-4.4. The secretory activity of the grafted pineal gland and the nature of the nerve fibres which innervate the graft are discussed.