Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Localisation of oxytocin, vasopressin and parts of precursors in the human neonatal adrenal

  • Original Articles
  • Published:
Histochemistry Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Summary

Being a possible alternative source for the production of vasopressin (AVP) and oxytocin (OXT), a study was undertaken of the fetal adrenal. The concentrations of these peptides within the fetal adrenal turned out to be low, viz., approx. 1 pg/mg in the rat and within the pg/g range in the human. Immunocytochemistry was performed either on conventional autopsy material kept till 12 years in paraffin blocks, or on more recently obtained formalin or glutaraldehyde-paraformaldehyde fixed material. In both types of material staining was good. In order to localize AVP cells, anti-AVP, an antibody against its associated neurophysin (anti-NSN) or an antibody raised against the c-terminal glycopeptide part of the AVP precursor (anti-GP) was used. OXT cells were localized by means of anti-OXT or an auto-antibody of a multiple sclerosis patient (auto-MS) probably recognizing OXT-neurophysin. The antibodies were characterized on human and rat brain material. In the external zone of the definitive cortex, apart from parenchyma cells, anti-AVP, anti-NSN and anti-GP stained fibre-like structures running in the connective tissue septa and around parenchyma cells and the cytoplasma of these cells. Anti-OXT and auto-MS stained droplets in the cytoplasm of the fetal zone cells. Similar distinct staining patterns for AVP and OXT cells were obtained in human anencephalics. These observations show that the peptides are not derived from the fetal brain, but are rather produced in the fetal adrenal cortex. Future research will have to determine the physiological meaning of the presence of these peptides in the fetal adrenal, e.g., in their contribution to amniotic fluid peptides, their possible role in fetal stress, steroidogenesis etc. The presence of an alternative source of these peptides in the fetus makes it necessary, further-more, to reconsider their possible functions in the process of labour.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ang VTY, Jenkins JS (1984) Neurohypophysial hormones in the adrenal medulla. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 58:688–691

    Google Scholar 

  • Antoni FA (1984) Characterization of high affinity binding sites for vasopressin in bovine adrenal medulla. Neuropeptides 4:413–420

    Google Scholar 

  • Antunes JL, Carmel PW, Zimmerman EA, Ferin M (1979) Regeneration of the magnocellular system of the rhesus monkey following hypothalamic lesions. Ann Neurol 5:462–469

    Google Scholar 

  • Boorsma DM, Streefkerk JG (1979) Periodate or glutaraldehyde for preparing peroxidase conjugates. J Immunol Methods 30:245–255

    Google Scholar 

  • Cheung CY (1984) Enhancement of adrenomedullary catecholamine release by adrenal cortex in the fetus. Am J Physiol 247:E693-E697

    Google Scholar 

  • Delprado W, Baird PJ (1984) The fetal adrenal gland: definitive cortex cystic change, lipid patterns, and their relationship to fetal disease and maturity. Pathology 16:312–317

    Google Scholar 

  • Dogterom J, Wimersma Greidanus TjB van, Swaab DF (1977) Evidence for the release of vasopressin and oxytocin into cerebrospinal fluid: Measurements in plasma and CSF of intact and hypophysectomized rats. Neuroendocrinology 24:108–118

    Google Scholar 

  • Dogterom J, Snijdewint FGM, Pevet P, Swaab DF (1980) Studies on the presence of AVP, oxytocin and vasotocin in the pineal gland, subcommissural organ and foetal pituitary gland, failure to demonstrate vasotocin in mammals. J Endocrinol 84:115–123

    Google Scholar 

  • Evans CJ, Eredelyi E, Weber E, Barches JD (1983) Identification of pro-opiomelanocortin-derived peptides in the human adrenal medulla. Science 221:957–960

    Google Scholar 

  • Fields PA, Eldridge RK, Fuchs AR, Roberts RF, Fields MJ (1983) Human placental and bovine corpora luteal oxytocin. Endocrinology 112:1544–1546

    Google Scholar 

  • Fleminger G, Ezra E, Kilpatrick DL, Kudenfriend S (1983) Processing of enkephalin-containing peptides in isolated bovine adrenal chromaffin granules. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 80:6418–6421

    Google Scholar 

  • Fliers E, Swaab DF, Pool CW, Verwer RWH (1985) The vasopressin and oxytocin neurons in the human supraoptic and paraventricular nucleus; changes with aging and in senile dementia. Brain Res 342:45–53

    Google Scholar 

  • Fuchs AR, Fuchs F (1984) Endocrinology of human parturition: a review. Br J Obstet Gynaecol 91:948–967

    Google Scholar 

  • Fuchs AR, Husslein P, Fuchs F (1981) Oxytocin and the initiation of human parturition. II. Stimulation of prostaglandin production in human decidua. Am J Obstet Gynecol 141:694–697

    Google Scholar 

  • Hansen BL, Hansen CL, Hagen C, Brodersen P (1983) Autoantibodies against pituitary peptides in sera from patients with multiple sclerosis. J Neuroimmunol 5:171–183

    Google Scholar 

  • Hashimoto K, Murakami K, Hattori T, Niimi M, Fujimo K, Ota Z (1984) Corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF)-like immunore-activity in the adrenal medulla. Peptides 5:707–711

    Google Scholar 

  • Honnebier WJ, Swaab DF (1974) Influence of alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (MSH), growth hormone (GH) and fetal brain extracts on intrauterine growth of fetus and placenta in the rat. J Obstet Gynaecol Br Commonw 81:439–447

    Google Scholar 

  • Ivell R, Richter D (1984) Structure and comparison of the oxytocin and vasopressin genes from rat. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 81:2006–2010

    Google Scholar 

  • Jost A (1975) The fetal adrenal cortex. In: Handbook of physiology. Endocrinology 6:107–115

  • Kilpatrick DL, Lewis RV, Stein S, Udenfriend S (1980) Release of enkephalins and enkephalin-containing polypeptides from perfused beef adrenal glands. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 77:7473–7475

    Google Scholar 

  • Kondo H, Kuramoto H, Iwanaga T (1984) Immunohistochemical study on met-enkephalin-Arg-Gly-Leu-Like immunoreactive nerve fibres in the rat adrenal medulla. Brain Res 310:371–375

    Google Scholar 

  • Leboulanger F, Charnay Y, Dubois PM, Rossier PM, Coy DH, Pelletier B, Vaudry H (1984) Coexistence de neuropeptides et de catecholamines dans la surrenale. Recherche d'effets paracrines sur les cellules corticosurrenaliennes. Ann Endocrinol (Paris) 45:217–227

    Google Scholar 

  • Levina SE (1968) Endocrine features in development of human hypothalamus, hypophysis, and placenta. Gen Comp Endocrinol 11:151–159

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewis RV, Stern AS, Kimura S, Rossier J, Stein S, Udenfriend S (1980) An about 50.000 Dalton Protein in adrenal medulla: A common precursor of [met]- and [leu] Enkephalin. Science 208:1459–1461

    Google Scholar 

  • Liggins GC, Kennedy PC, Holm LW (1967) Failure of initiation of parturition after electrocoagulation of the pituitary of the fetal lamb. Am J Obstet Gynecol 98:1080–1086

    Google Scholar 

  • Møller A, Hansen BL, Hansen GN, Hagen C (1985) Autoantibodies in sera from patients with multiple sclerosis directed against determinants in pituitary growth hormone producing cells and in structures containing vasopressin/oxytocin. J Neuroimmunol 8:177–184

    Google Scholar 

  • Nicholson HD, Swann RW, Burford GD, Wathes DC, Porter DG, Pickering BT (1984) Identification of oxytocin and vasopressin in the testis and adrenal tissue. Regul. Peptides 8:141–146

    Google Scholar 

  • Norman RJ, Joubert SM (1982) Fetal adrenal gland maturation in growth-retarded twin pregnancies. Acta Genet Med Gemellol 31:259–262

    Google Scholar 

  • Nussey SS, Ang VTY, Jenkins JS, Chowdrey HS, Bisset GW (1984) Brattleboro rat adrenal contains vasopressin. Nature 310:64–66

    Google Scholar 

  • Oosterbaan HP, Swaab DF, Boer GJ (1985a) Oxytocin and vasopressin do not readily pass from the mother to the amniotic fluid in late pregnancy. J Dev Physiol 7:55–62

    Google Scholar 

  • Oosterbaan HP, Swaab DF, Boer GJ (1985b) Increased amniotic vasopressin levels in experimentally growth-retarded rat fetuses. J Dev Physiol 7:89–97

    Google Scholar 

  • Oosterbaan HP, Swaab DF, Ravid R (1986) The fetal brain and parturition. The possible function of endocrine systems and energy balance. In: Meisami E, Timiran PS (eds). Handbook of human biological development. (in preparation)

  • Ravid R, Swaab DF, Pool CW (1985) Immunocytochemical localization of vasopressin-binding sites in the rat kidney. J Endocrinol 105:133–149

    Google Scholar 

  • Rathsack R, Oehme P, Roske I, Hilse H (1983) Substance P-like immunoreactivity in plasma and adrenal medulla of rats with spontaneous hypertension and WKY rats under acute stress. Biomed Biochim Acta 42:955–958

    Google Scholar 

  • Schultzberg M, Lundberg JM, Hökfelt T, Terenius L, Elde RP, Goldstein M (1978) Enkephalin-like immunoreactivity in gland cells and nerve terminals of the adrenal medulla. Neuroscience 3:1169–1186

    Google Scholar 

  • Serrón-Ferré M, Jaffe RB (1981) The fetal adrenal gland. Annu Rev Physiol 43:141–162

    Google Scholar 

  • Stark RI, Daniel SS, Husain MK, Sanocka UM, Zubrow AB, James LS (1984) Vasopressin concentration in amniotic fluid as an index of fetal hypoxia: mechanism of release in the sheep. Pediatr Res 18:835–841

    Google Scholar 

  • Swaab DF (1982) Neuropeptides — Their distribution and function in the brain. In: Buijs RM, Pevet P, Swaab DF (eds) Chemical Transmission in the brain. Elsevier Biomedical Press, Amsterdam, Prog Brain Res 55:97–122

    Google Scholar 

  • Swaab DF, Honnebier WJ (1973) The influence of removal of the fetal rat brain upon intrauterine growth of the fetus and the placenta and on gestation length. J Obstet Gynaecol Br Commonw 80:589–597

    Google Scholar 

  • Swaab DF, Oosterbaan HP (1983) Exclusion of the fetal brain as the main source of rat and human amniotic fluid oxytocin. Br J Obstet Gynaecol 90:1160–1167

    Google Scholar 

  • Swaab DF, Boer K, Honnebier WJ (1977) The influence of the fetal hypothalamus and pituitary on the onset and course of parturition. In: Knight J, O'Connor M (eds) The fetus and birth. Ciba Foundation Symposium 47:379–400

  • Swaab DF, Pool CW, Nijvelt F (1975a) Immunofluorescence of vasopressin and oxytocin in the rat hypothalamo-neurohypophyseal system. J Neural Transm 36:195–215

    Google Scholar 

  • Swaab DF, Nijvelt F, Pool CW (1975b) Distribution of oxytocin and vasopressin in the rat supraoptic and paraventricular nucleus. J Endocrinol 67:461–462

    Google Scholar 

  • Swaab DF, Fliers E, Partiman TS (1985) The suprachiasmatic nucleus of the human brain in relation to sex, age and senile dementia. Brain Res 342:37–44

    Google Scholar 

  • Ungar A, Philips JH (1983) Regulation of the adrenal medulla. Physiol Rev 63:787–843

    Google Scholar 

  • Van der Sluis PJ, Boer GJ, Pool CW (1983) Fixation and immunoperoxidase staining of oligopeptides after isoelectric focusing in thin polyacrylamide slab gels. Anal Biochem 133:226–232

    Google Scholar 

  • Van der Sluis PJ et al. (1986) in prep

  • Van Leeuwen FW, Swaab DF, Romijn HJ (1976) Light and electron microscopic localization of oxytocin and vasopressin in rats. In: Feldman G, Druet P, Bigman J, Avrameas S (eds) Immuno enzymatic techniques. INSERM symposium no. 2. North-Holland, Amsterdam Oxford, pp 345–353

    Google Scholar 

  • Vandesande F, Dierickx K (1976) Immuno-cytochemical demonstration of the inability of the homozygous Brattleboro rat to synthesize vasopressin and vasopressin-associated neurophysin. Cell Tissue Res 165:307–316

    Google Scholar 

  • Verhofstad AAJ, Jonnson G (1983) Immunohistochemical and neurochemical evidence for the presence of serotonin in the adrenal medulla of the rat. Neuroscience 10:1443–1453

    Google Scholar 

  • Visser M, Swaab DF (1979) Life span changes in the presence of alpha-melanocyte-stimulating-hormone-containing cells in the human pituitary. J Dev Physiol 1:161–168

    Google Scholar 

  • Viveros OH, Diliberto EJ, Hazum E, Chang KJ (1980) Enkephalins as possible adrenomedullary hormones: storage secretion, and regulation of synthesis. In: Costa E, Trabucchi M (eds) Neural peptides and neuronal communication. Raven Press, New York, pp 191–205

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson SP, Chang KJ, Viveros OH (1980) Synthesis of enkephalins by adrenal medullary chromaffin cells: reserpine increases incorporation of radiolabeled aminoacids. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 77:4364–4368

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson SP, Chang KJ, Viveros OH (1981) Opioid peptide biosynthesis in bovine and human adrenal chromaffin cells. Peptides 20 (Suppl 1):83–88

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Netherlands Institute for Brain Research, Meibergdreef 33, NL-1105 AZ, Amsterdam Zuid-Oost, The Netherlands

    R. Ravid & D. F. Swaab

  2. Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Groot Ziekengasthuis, Nieuwstraat 34, NL-5211, NL 's Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands

    H. P. Oosterbaan

  3. Institute of Medical Microbiology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

    B. L. Hansen

Authors
  1. R. Ravid
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. H. P. Oosterbaan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. B. L. Hansen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. D. F. Swaab
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Additional information

In honour of Prof. P. van Duijn

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Ravid, R., Oosterbaan, H.P., Hansen, B.L. et al. Localisation of oxytocin, vasopressin and parts of precursors in the human neonatal adrenal. Histochemistry 84, 401–407 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00482970

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00482970

Keywords

Search

Navigation