Co-expression of vasopressin with beta-endorphin and dynorphin in individual cells from the ovaries of Brattleboro and Long-Evans rats: immunocytochemical studies.

The distribution of arginine-vasopressin (AVP)-, oxytocin-, beta-endorphin (beta-EP)- and dynorphin-immunoreactive cells was examined by peroxidase-antiperoxidase (PAP) immunocytochemistry in the ovaries of Brattleboro and Long-Evans (LE) rats. The ovarian distribution of the peptide-immunoreactivity is indistinguishable between the two strains. AVP- and beta-EP-immunoreactivity is co-localized in the majority of luteal cells, and in some cells scattered in the interstitial tissue. Of the AVP/beta-EP-positive cells, 1-2% also contained immunoreactive (ir)-dynorphin. Some cells in the interstitium contained only ir-AVP (approximately 50%) or only ir-dynorphin (approximately 5%); in the corpora lutea, however, no luteal cells appeared to contain only one peptide. AVP-immunoreactivity is also present in theca cells surrounding secondary and large, antral follicles; ir-oxytocin was not observed in any ovarian cell type in the rat. These data suggest that most luteal, and some interstitial, cells in the ovary have the capacity to produce and store up to three different neuropeptides.