Evidence for the existence of a population of arcuate neurons costoring choline acetyltransferase and tyrosine hydroxylase immunoreactivities in the male rat.

By combined immunoperoxidase and immunofluorescence histochemistry we have analyzed the distribution of choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) and tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) immunoreactive (IR) perikarya within the same sections of the mediobasal hypothalamus of the male rat. Evidence was obtained for the existence of perikarya costoring TH and ChAT immunoreactivities in both the dorsomedial and ventrolateral part of the arcuate nucleus and in the adjacent periarcuate nucleus at all rostrocaudal levels. The results strongly implicate interactions between dopamine and acetylcholine as well as acetylcholine and growth hormone releasing factor in dorsomedially and ventrolaterally located TH/ChAT costoring tuberoinfundibular neurons, respectively.