Receptor binding of corticosterone in some rat brain structures following neonatal blockade of the hypophyseoadrenal system.

Administration of hydrocortisone to rats during the first five postnatal days leads to the blockade of the hypophyseoadrenal system and results in a decrease in the number of corticosterone receptors in the hypophysis, hypothalamus, and hippocampus. Such a decrease in the receptor binding of corticosterone in the brain structures involved in the regulation of the hypophyseoadrenal system by a feedback mechanism is due to a change in the number of true glucocorticoid receptors.