Effect of Anteroventral Third Ventricle Lesions on Vasopressin Release by Organ-Cultured Hypothalamo-Neurohypophyseal Explants

Abstract

Rats with electrolytic lesions of the tissue surrounding the third ventricle (AV3V) of the hypothalamus exhibit hypernatremia and chronic drinking deficits in response to hypertonic NaCl. These findings are suggestive of impaired osmoreception. The organ-cultured rat hypothalamo-neurohypophyseal system (HNS) previously has been shown to release vasopressin (VP) in response to osmotic stimuli. The ventral portion of the region damaged by AV3V lesions is included in the HNS explant. Thus, these studies were initiated to evaluate the ability of HNS explants which were obtained from rats previously prepared with AV3V lesions to respond to an increase in osmolality, acetylcholine, or angiotensin II with an increase in VP release.