Korean J Anat.  1998 Feb;31(1):119-126.

Coexistence of Tyrosine Hydroxylase and Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide Phosphate-Diaphorase in Hypothalamic Neurons of the Rat

• Huh YB
• Cho JS
• Song CS
• Ahn HK

Abstract

The presence and coexistence of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate-diaphorase (NADPH-diaphorase) with tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) was investigated by combining NADPH-diaphorase histochemistry with TH immunohistochemistry in hypothalamic nuclei of the rat. TH-immunoreactive and NADPH-diaphorase positive neurons were found in the medial preoptic area and medial preoptic nucleus, anterior hypothalamic area, dorsomedial hypothalamic nucleus, paraventricular nucleus, supraoptic nucleus and posterior hypothalamic area, respectively. TH and NADPH-diaphorase did not coexist in the anterior hypothalamic area, dorsomedial hypothalamic nucleus, medial preoptic area and posterior hypothalamic area. A considerable portion (30~50%) of the NADPH-diaphorase positive neurons in the supraoptic nucleus colocalized TH. In the medial preoptic area and paraventricular nucleus, some (5~15%) of TH-immunoreactive neurons also contained NADPH-diaphorase activity. NADPH-diaphorase is known to be an indicator of the enzyme nitric oxide synthase; these results therefore suggest that nitric oxide may play an important role in the regulation of the activity of the hypothalamic dopaminergic system of the rat.

Keyword

NADPH-diaphorase; Tyrosine hydroxylase; Coexistence; Hypothalamus

MeSH Terms

Animals
Anterior Hypothalamic Nucleus
Dorsomedial Hypothalamic Nucleus
Hypothalamus
Immunohistochemistry
NAD*
Neurons*
Niacinamide*
Nitric Oxide
Nitric Oxide Synthase
Paraventricular Hypothalamic Nucleus
Preoptic Area
Rats*
Supraoptic Nucleus
Tyrosine 3-Monooxygenase*
Tyrosine*
NAD
Niacinamide
Nitric Oxide
Nitric Oxide Synthase
Tyrosine
Tyrosine 3-Monooxygenase