The cholinergic influences on the oxytocin activity of the hypothalamus and neurohypophysis in long-term dehydrated male rats.

The cholinergic influences on the oxytocin activity of the hypothalamus and neurohypophysis in long-term dehydrated male rats. Acta Physiol. Pol., 1978, 29 (1): 17-25. Rats dehydrated up to 12 days were injected intraperitoneally with carbachol or atropine sulfate in daily doses of 20 microgram/100 g and 1.0 mg/100 g, respectively. In not dehydrated rats atropine increased the oxytocin activity of the hypothalamus and neurohypophysis; carbachol did not influence the oxytocin potency of the hypothalamus but augmented it in the neurohypophysis. During long-term dehydration both carbachol and atropine intensified the depletion of oxytocin in the hypothalamus as well as in the neurohypophysis.