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Titel
Variations of neuronal nitric oxide synthase after hypophysectomy suggest a neuroprotective effect of nitric oxide in response to damage of the neurons of the hypothalamic supraoptic nucleus in the rat
Autor(es)
Schlagwort
nNOS
Nitric oxide
Hypophysectomy
In situ hybridization
Immunohistochemistry
Optical densitometry
nNOS mRNA
Fecha de publicación
2008
Resumen
[EN]The hypothalamic-neurohypophyseal system
offers an ideal model to study the processes of
nerve degeneration/regeneration after lesions
caused by cutting the hypophyseal stalk, or
hypophysectomy. Additionally, the magnocellular
neurons comprising it contain nitric
oxide, and its enzyme, neural nitric oxide synthase,
shows important variations in functional
alterations of the hypothalamic-neurohypophyseal
system. Currently, there is still some controversy
as regards whether nitric oxide exerts
neurodegenerative or neuroprotective effects in
the nervous system. Here we performed a quantitative
and qualitative study of the variations
in the neuronal activity of nitric oxide synthase,
using immunohistochemistry, and of its
mRNA, by in situ hybridization, in the magnocellular
neurons of the supraoptic nucleus of the
hypothalamus of hypophysectomised rats with
survival periods of 10-30 days. Our morphological
and morphometric results and those
pertaining to neuronal quantification and optical
density point to a neuroprotective effect of
nitric oxide on magnocellular neurons during
the regenerative process of the supraoptic
nucleus that occurs after hypophysectomy
URI
ISSN
1136-4890
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