Transient postnatal thyroxine treatment leads to an increased number of cholinergic neurons in the medial septum and to a higher density of cholinergic fibers in hippocampal CA3 in rats.
Newborn male pups of Sprague-Dawley rats received daily injections of buffered L-thyroxine or saline during the first 12 days postnatally. At the age of 12 weeks, the number of immunocytochemically labeled cholinergic neuronal profiles in the medial septum/diagonal band (MS/vDB) was counted, and the density of acetylcholinesterase (AChE)-positive fibers in four hippocampal subregions was measured. Thyroxine-treated rats had more ChAT-positive neuronal profiles in the MS/vDB and a higher density of AChE-positive fibers in hippocampal CA3 as compared to controls. From this study it is concluded that transient postnatal hyperthyroidism leads to an increased cholinergic innervation of hippocampal CA3.
Schwegler
H
H
Institut für Anatomie, Otto-von-Guericke-Universität Magdeburg, Germany.
D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D002452:Cell Count / Q000187:drug effects*; D002799:Cholinergic Fibers / Q000187:drug effects*; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000187:drug effects*; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012686:Septal Nuclei / Q000187:drug effects*; D013974:Thyroxine / Q000494:pharmacology*
D013974:Thyroxine