LACK OF EFFECT OF OXYTOCIN ON THE NUMBERS OF SYNAPTIC RIBBONS, CYCLICGUANOSINE-MONOPHOSPHATE AND SEROTONIN N-ACETYLTRANSFERASE ACTIVITY INORGAN-CULTURED PINEALS OF 3 STRAINS OF RATS
S. Reuss et al., LACK OF EFFECT OF OXYTOCIN ON THE NUMBERS OF SYNAPTIC RIBBONS, CYCLICGUANOSINE-MONOPHOSPHATE AND SEROTONIN N-ACETYLTRANSFERASE ACTIVITY INORGAN-CULTURED PINEALS OF 3 STRAINS OF RATS, Cell and tissue research, 274(2), 1993, pp. 337-342
In addition to the stimulating influence of the sympathetic system on
the function of the mammalian pineal gland, neuropeptides such as neur
opeptide Y, vasoactive intestinal polypeptide and arginine-vasopressin
(AVP) are thought to function as modulators. Since AVP has been shown
to influence pineal melatonin synthesis, the aim of the present study
was to investigate the possible effects of the second hypothalamic no
napeptide oxytocin (OT), which likewise has been detected in the pinea
l gland. We therefore studied ''synaptic'' ribbon (SR) numbers, N-acet
yltransferase (NAT) activity and the intracellular concentration of cy
clic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) following in vitro incubation of r
at pineals in media containing OT (10(-5) M), noradrenaline (NA, 10(-5
) M) or both NA and OT. Pineal glands were derived from rats of three
different strains (Sprague-Dawley, Long-Evans and the AVP-deficient st
rain Brattleboro). Neither morphological nor biochemical analyses show
ed a difference between control and OT-incubated organs in any of the
strains tested. In Brattleboro rats, but not in the other strains, nor
adrenaline slightly increased the number of SR which was not observed
when NA and OT were combined. The addition of NA resulted in distinct
augmentation of NAT activity and cGMP content, which were not affected
by additional OT application. These results suggest that oxytocin is
not crucially involved in the regulation of pineal gland function.