Radioimmunoassay of arginine vasopressin, oxytocin and arginine vasotocin-like material in the human pineal gland.
Specific radioimmunoassays (RIAs) have been developed for arginine-vasopressin (AVP), oxytocin (OT), and arginine-vasotocin (AVT): they can detect 2.5 pg, 5 pg and 1 pg of hormone respectively. The three antisera employed in the RIAs in the present study all had a specificity that discriminated between the three neuropeptides and thus allowed their accurate measurement in each of 157 human pineal glands. Immunoreactive AVP was found to have a mean concentration of 306.4/+-27.6 (SE) pg/gland in the 1389 pineals where it was at level higher than the detection limit. Immunoreactive OT was determined as 386.3/+-42.1 pg/gland in the 110 pineals where it was measurable, and the mean apparent immunoreactive AVT content was 44.6/+-3.6 pg/gland in the 110 pineals where it was found at detectable levels. Cross-reactivity with AVP or OT cannot account for the immunoreactive peptide content of human adult pineal glands was demonstrated as a function of: (1) sex, (2) time of death, (3) cause of death, (4) age (18 to 85 yr old) or (5) delay between death and gland removal over the range of 4 to 48 hr. While the presence of AVP and OT is not surprising, indications of an immunoreactive AVT may in fact reflect a peptide which is closely related to AVT and cross-reacts in the AVT RIA.
D000918:Antibody Specificity; D001127:Arginine Vasopressin / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008832:Microchemistry; D010121:Oxytocin / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D010870:Pineal Gland / Q000378:metabolism*; D011863:Radioimmunoassay / Q000592:standards; D014668:Vasotocin / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*
D001127:Arginine Vasopressin; D010121:Oxytocin; D014668:Vasotocin