Age-related changes in oxytocin-, arginine vasopressin- and nitric oxide synthase-expressing neurons in the supraoptic nucleus of the rat

Age-related changes in nitric oxide synthase in the lateral geniculate nucleus of rats

“…In addition, Liu and co-workers (Liu et al 2003(Liu et al , 2004(Liu et al , 2005 reported increased activity in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex of aged rats. Yu et al (2006) showed a significant rise in NADPH-d activity in the supraoptic nucleus of aged rats consistent with the increased NADPH-d activity seen in the present report. However, Chung et al (2004) reported that the number of nNOS-IR neurons was decreased, whereas neuropil staining was maintained in aged Sprague-Dawley rats.…”

Evidence for increased NADPH-diaphorase-positive neurons in the central auditory system of the aged rat

“…However, a substantial increase in NADPH-d-stained neurons has been reported in the superior olivary nucleus of aged hamsters [5], and substantial increases in neurons immunohistochemically stained for neuronal NOS and inducible NOS have been reported in the rat cerebral cortex [30]. In addition, a dramatic increase in NADPH-d activity has been reported in the supraoptic nucleus of aged rats [26], in agreement with our finding of increased NAPHD-d activity in aged rats. The contradictory reports on aging-related production of NO may be due to regionally specific differences [5].…”

“…We therefore utilized histological quantitative methods to measure NOS activity at the cellular level and in small nuclei of the brain [22Á24]. Since optical density of NADPH-d has been shown to be a good indicator of NOS activity in the brain [25,26] and peripheral nerves [27], we utilized NADPH-d histochemistry to measure changes in NOS activity in the brain.…”

Alterations in Nitric Oxide Synthase in the Aged CNS

“…In the central auditory system, age-related changes in NOS-IR/NADPH-d-positive neurons were found in the cochlea [36], the superior olivary complex [37], the inferior colliculus (IC) [38], and the auditory cortex (AC) [39]. In previous studies, a significant increase in NADPH-d-positive neurons was reported in the superior olivary nucleus in aged hamsters [37] and rats [40]. Sánchez-Zuriaga et al showed evidence of a decreased area of NADPH-d-positive neurons in the dorsal cortex (DC) of the IC and an age-related loss of NADPH-d-positive neurons in the IC and primary cortical auditory area (Te1) in rats [41].…”

“…In the rat vLGN, most NADPH-d-positive neurons are geniculotectal projection neurons, although a smaller proportion acts as local circuit inhibitory neurons [51]. Yu et al [40] showed a significant enhancement in NADPH-d activity in the supraoptic nucleus of aged rats. Villena et al showed a decrease in the number of NADPH-d-positive neurons in aged old rat vLGN compared with controls [17].…”