TY  - JOUR
A1  - ,  
T1  - Sexual dimorphism in rat oxytocinergic hypothalamic regions
JO  - Eur. J. Anat.
SN  - 1136-4890
Y1  - 2001
VL  - 5
SP  - 139
EP  - 143
UR  - http://www.eurjanat.com/web/paper.php?id=01030139
KW  - oxytocin
KW  - peroxidase
KW  - animal tissue
KW  - article
KW  - controlled study
KW  - female
KW  - hypothalamus
KW  - immunocytochemistry
KW  - immunofluorescence
KW  - male
KW  - nonhuman
KW  - preoptic area
KW  - rat
KW  - sex difference
KW  - subcommissural organ
KW  - supraoptic nucleus
KW  - zona incerta
N2  - Oxytocin (OT), a nonapeptide of the hypothalamo-neurohypophyseal system is known to be important for milk ejection and uterus contraction in females and for erection and seminal emissions in males. These sex-specific functional properties imply differential distribution of OT in the hypothalamus. In the present study, complete series of vibratome sections of male and female rat brains were stained for OT with either immunoperoxidase or immunofluorescence in order to evaluate such sex differences. While no significant differences were found in the classical magnocellular nuclei, females had more OT neurons in the zona incerta and the retrochiasmatic portion of the supraoptic nucleus. In males, the lateral subcommissural nucleus and the lateral preoptic area contained significantly more OT perikarya. These sexually dimorphic locations of OT-expressing neurons may be the neuroanatomical correlates of known gender-specific functions of OT.
ER  -