title: Immunohistochemical evidence for the presence of oxytocin in the opossum corpus luteum.
abstract: Corpora lutea from opossums late in pregnancy were examined by immunohistochemistry for the presence of oxytocin. Oxytocin-immunoreactivity was observed in all corpora lutea examined but not elsewhere in ovarian tissue. The immunoreactive staining observed was confined primarily to the perinuclear cytoplasm of reactive luteal cells. Not all luteal cells showed oxytocin-immunoreactivity. The immunohistochemical localization of oxytocin in the pregnant opossum corpus luteum demonstrates for the first time this peptide in a metatherian ovary. Its presence in this primitive species suggests that oxytocin has a fundamental role in the physiology of the mammalian ovary.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy and Human Biology, University of Western Australia, Nedlands, Perth.
authors.forename: W J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Krause
authors.forename: D M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Sherman
authors.forename: W K
authors.initials: WK
authors.lastname: Samson
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003338:Corpus Luteum / Q000166:cytology*; D005260:Female; D007106:Immune Sera; D007150:Immunohistochemistry / Q000379:methods; D009893:Opossums; D010121:Oxytocin / Q000032:analysis*; D013194:Staining and Labeling
chemical_list: D007106:Immune Sera; D010121:Oxytocin