Distribution of GABA-immunoreactive nerve cells in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis in male and female rats.
The distribution of GABA-immunoreactive neurons in the subnuclei of the rat bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BST) was studied by means of GABA immunohistochemistry. For detection of GABA immunoreactivity we used polyclonal antibodies and silver intensification. We have compared the pattern of distribution of immunoreactive cells in male and female rats and found some sexual difference, that may underlie functional variety. Computer assisted quantitative analysis of GABA-immunoreactive neurons per mm2 showed statistically significant sex differences in the medial part of the BST (0.001 < P < 0.01). The difference in the BST as a whole was set at 0.05 < P < 0.1. Females had more numerous GABA-immunoreactive cells than males. The measuring of sex differences was done using double-tailed Student's t-test after submitting the data to ANOVA.
Stefanova
N
N
Department of Anatomy & Histology, Medical University, Sofia, Bulgaria.
Bozhilova-Pastirova
A
A
Ovtscharoff
W
W
D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008032:Limbic System / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000166:cytology; D008297:Male; D009474:Neurons / Q000737:chemistry*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D013788:Thalamus / Q000737:chemistry*; D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid / Q000276:immunology*
D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid