THE EFFECT OF STEROID TREATMENT ON LIPOCORTIN IMMUNOREACTIVITY OF RAT-BRAIN

LIPOCORTIN-1, lipocortin-2 and lipocortin-5 were immunohistochemically assessed in rats. Apart from animals receiving no treatment, other an imals received pretreatment with methylprednisolone, or the 21-aminost eroid U-74389F. Whereas lipocortin immunoreactivity was absent in the greater part of the brain in animals not pretreated with steroid (exce pt in sporadic microglial cells and choroid plexus), there was obvious immunostaining of parenchymatous elements in steroid pretreated anima ls. In the steroid pretreated animals lipocortin immunoreactivity of t he brain tissue may indicate local formation of lipocortin under the i nfluence of steroids that had entered the tissue. The cellular element s which showed immunostaining included meningeal cells, neurones, epen dyma, oligodendroglia and capillary endothelium.