Autoradiographic localization of peripheral benzodiazepine, dihydroalprenolol and arginine vasopressin binding sites in the pituitaries of control, stalk transected and Brattleboro rats.

The autoradiographic distribution of [3H]arginine vasopressin, [3H]spiperone, [3H]GABA, [3H]dihydroalprenolol and the peripheral-type benzodiazepine ligand [3H]Ro5-4864 were examined in the rat pituitary before and after pituitary stalk transection. Stalk transection produced dramatic changes in the cellular architecture of the pars nervosa. Glial fibrillary acidic protein, an astrocyte marker reported in pituicytes, increased after stalk transection, whereas neurofilament, a marker for neuronal innervation, was lost. These structural changes demonstrated a successful stalk transection, permitting interpretation of changes in the densities of several [3H]-ligands over the three lobes. [3H]Ro5-4864 binding was markedly increased, suggesting that this site was located on the pituicytes. Conversely [3H]spiperone and [3H]arginine vasopressin binding density over the pars nervosa decreased. In the mutant diabetes insipidus rat (Brattleboro), which lacks pituitary vasopressin, [3H]arginine vasopressin binding was undetectable in the pars nervosa. [3H]dihydroalprenolol and [3H]GABA binding sites were unchanged by the lesion. These results are discussed in terms of the occurrence of functional acceptors on pituicytes and their possible role in neurohydrophyseal secretions.