Neonatal handling and the expression of immunoreactivity to tyrosine hydroxylase in the hypothalamus of adult male rats
Braz. j. med. biol. res
;
34(9): 1191-1195, Sept. 2001. graf
Article
in English
| LILACS
| ID: lil-290409
RESUMO
Neonatal handling has long-lasting effects on behavior and stress reactivity. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of neonatal handling on the number of dopaminergic neurons in the hypothalamic nuclei of adult male rats as part of a series of studies that could explain the long-lasting effects of neonatal stimulation. Two groups of Wistar rats were studied nonhandled (pups were left undisturbed, control) and handled (pups were handled for 1 min once a day during the first 10 days of life). At 75-80 days, the males were anesthetized and the brains were processed for immunohistochemistry. An anti-tyrosine hydroxylase antibody and the avidin-biotin-peroxidase method were used. Tyrosine hydroxylase-immunoreactive (TH-IR) neurons were counted bilaterally in the arcuate, paraventricular and periventricular nuclei of the hypothalamus in 30-æm sections at 120-æm intervals. Neonatal handling did not change the number of TH-IR neurons in the arcuate (1021 + or - 206, N = 6; 1020 + or - 150, N = 6; nonhandled and handled, respectively), paraventricular (584 + or - 85, N = 8; 682 + or - 62, N = 9) or periventricular (743 + or - 118, N = 7; 990 + or - 158, N = 7) nuclei of the hypothalamus. The absence of an effect on the number of dopaminergic cells in the hypothalamus indicates that the reduction in the amount of neurons induced by neonatal handling, as shown by other studies, is not a general phenomenon in the brain
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Index:
LILACS (Americas)
Main subject:
Tyrosine 3-Monooxygenase
/
Behavior, Animal
/
Hypothalamus, Anterior
/
Handling, Psychological
/
Neurons
Limits:
Animals
Language:
English
Journal:
Braz. j. med. biol. res
Journal subject:
Biology
/
Medicine
Year:
2001
Type:
Article
/
Congress and conference
Affiliation country:
Brazil
Institution/Affiliation country:
Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul/BR
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