Ultrastructural changes in the nerve terminals of the vascular organ of the lamina terminalis in the rat during the estrous cycle.
Quantitative evaluation of the size of the vesicles in the nerve terminals of the vascular organ of the lamina terminalis (OVLT) during the sexual cycle of the female rat was made. The results indicate that electron-lucent microvesicles and larger vesicles usually with an electron-dense core are found in the examined nerve endings at all stages of the cycle, but there is a fluctuation in the ratio of these two kinds of vesicles. At proestrus the larger vesicles predominate, while at estrus and diestrus the microvesicles prevail. The data are consistent with the view that the OVLT may be involved in the control of cyclic gonadotrophic function of the anterior pituitary.
Wenger
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2nd Department of Anatomy, Semmelweis University, Medical School, Budapest Hungary.