ABSTRACT
BDNF belongs to the neurotrophin family and important molecular mediator of functional and structural plasticity. The highest levels of BDNF are found in the hippocampus and hypothalamus of the adult rat. Hypothalamus is important because of its high degree of plasticity, but little is known about distribution of BDNF in hypothalamic nuclei. Therefore, it is necessary to study distribution and expression pattern of BDNF in each hypothalamic nuclei to understand changes of BDNF through various neural damages including spinal cord injury. Through this experiment, we found specific BDNF expression pattern in some regions of hypothalamus and the results are as follows. 1) BDNF expressions were found in median eminence, arcuate nucleus, supraoptic nucleus, and periventricular nucleus of rat hypothalamus. 2) BDNF immunoreactive cells and nerve fibers were of various shapes and sizes. 3) Glial cells also express BDNF in certain hypothalamic nuclei. These results seem to be useful for future investigations of neurochemical changes in the hypothalamus induced by various neural trauma or degenerative changes