Effect of ovariectomy and estrogen on [3H]imipramine binding to different regions of rat brain.

In rats, 35 days after ovariectomy, the number of [3H]imipramine binding sites increased more than 200% in striatum, hippocampus and hypothalamus but it did not change in cerebral cortex and brain-stem. Estradiol-17 beta acting in vitro inhibited [3H]imipramine binding in control membranes of striatum, hippocampus and hypothalamus, but not in the same regions from ovariectomized rats.