Gemmell R T, Chua T, Bathgate R A, Sernia C
Department of Anatomical Sciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
Anat Rec. 1993 Oct;237(2):228-35. doi: 10.1002/ar.1092370210.
The fetal anterior pituitary-adrenal axis is thought to be involved in the initiation of birth in both eutherian and marsupial mammals. Little is known about the structure and function of the posterior pituitary at birth in the marsupial. Immunocytochemistry, high pressure liquid chromatography, and radioimmunoassay were used to identify vasopressin and mesotocin in the posterior pituitary of a newborn marsupial, the brushtail possum, Trichosurus vulpecula. The concentrations of vasopressin and mesotocin in the head of the newborn possum were 0.34 and 0.28 ng, respectively. The concentration of vasopressin was always greater than that of mesotocin, and the amounts of neuropeptides present in the head increased as the possum developed.
人们认为，在有胎盘哺乳动物和有袋哺乳动物中，胎儿的垂体前叶 - 肾上腺轴都参与了分娩的启动过程。对于有袋动物出生时垂体后叶的结构和功能，我们所知甚少。本研究运用免疫细胞化学、高压液相色谱法和放射免疫分析法，对新生有袋动物帚尾袋貂（Trichosurus vulpecula）垂体后叶中的加压素和中催产素进行了鉴定。新生袋貂头部中加压素和中催产素的浓度分别为0.34纳克和0.28纳克。加压素的浓度始终高于中催产素，并且随着袋貂的发育，头部中神经肽的含量会增加。
