Oxytocin localization and function in the A1 noradrenergic cell group: ultrastructural and electrophysiological studies

Abstract Antibodies to oxytocin and noradrenalin were utilized in an immunocytochemical study of the caudal ventrolateral medulla of the rat brainstem. Noradrenalin was visualized by using antibodies to noradrenalin and by means of a silver-gold intensification of diaminobenzidine, whereas oxytocin could be demonstrated in the same section by using the diaminobenzidine precipitate as a marker. At the light microscopic level, oxytocin fibers were densely distributed around the A 1 cell bodies. At the ultrastructural level, oxytocin-containing fibers were seen to terminate synaptically onto noradrenalin-containing neurons. Previous studies have shown that electrical stimulation of A 1 neurons selectively activates vasopressin-secreting neurons in the supraoptic nucleus. Therefore, separate electrophysiological studies were set up, in which we observed that oxytocin infusions (100–200 pg) into the A 1 area enhanced the activity of 16 out of 19 putative vasopressin-secreting neurons and elicited no response from any of 10 oxytocin-secreting neurons. This finding suggests that some of the parvicellular neurons in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus, from which the A 1 neurons derive their oxytocin innervation, can activate the A 1 cell group via this peptidergic neurotransmitter. One of the consequences of A 1 neuronal activation is enhanced firing of hypothalamic supraoptic (and paraventricular) vasopressin-secreting neurons, and a consequent rise in plasma vasopressin.