Electron microscopic immunohistochemical localization of vasopressin and neurophysin in the median eminence of normal and adrenalectomized rats.

Using an immunoperoxidase technique at the ultrastructural level, vasopressin (VP) and neurophysin (NP) were localized in the axons of the median eminence of normal and adrenalectomized rats. Whereas VP and NP were generally found in 150-nm granules in the internal zone of the normal rat median eminence, in the adrenalectomized rat, many granules of about 80 to 100 nm in diameter were found to contain NP and VP in the external zone of the median eminence.