title: Decreased number of vasopressin immunoreactive neurons in the medial amygdala and locus coeruleus of the aged rat.
abstract: The earlier described age-related decreases in vasopressin innervation of extra-hypothalamic rat brain regions were found to coincide with a decrease in vasopressin expression in the cells where these fibers originated. A significant age-related decrease in the number of vasopressin-immunoreactive cell bodies was found in the medial amygdala and locus coeruleus of senescent Brown-Norway (BN/BiRij) rats (33 months) when compared to middle-aged (19 months) and young (3 months) rats. In addition, total testosterone plasma levels were significantly reduced in middle-aged and old rats as compared to young animals and the number of vasopressin-immunoreactive cells in both the medial amygdala and locus coeruleus correlated significantly with the decreased testosterone levels in a similar way as found earlier for vasopressin terminals.
authors.affiliation: Netherlands Institute for Brain Research, Amsterdam.
authors.forename: E J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Van Zwieten
authors.forename: W T
authors.initials: WT
authors.lastname: Kos
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ravid
authors.forename: D F
authors.initials: DF
authors.lastname: Swaab
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000378:metabolism*; D000679:Amygdala / Q000166:cytology / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008125:Locus Coeruleus / Q000166:cytology / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D009474:Neurons / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D051381:Rats; D011914:Rats, Inbred BN; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D013739:Testosterone / Q000097:blood; D014667:Vasopressins / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D014667:Vasopressins; D013739:Testosterone