Immunohistochemical localization of glucose transporters (GLUT1 and GLUT3) in the rat hypothalamus.

Immunohistochemical localization of the glucose transporters was studied in the rat hypothalamus by using a specific rabbit antiserum raised against either the isoform 1 (GLUT1) or the isoform 3 (GLUT3). Immunoreactive staining for GLUT1 was found in glia cells and capillaries, whereas positive staining for GLUT3 occurred mainly in neurons and partly in ependymal cells. Double immunostaining indicated that a small population of GLUT1-positive cells were reactive for glial fibrillary acidic protein, a marker for astrocytes. Another doubly stained section showed that GLUT1-positive glia cells were never stained with an OX42 antibody, a marker for microglia cells. Neurons staining positively for GLUT3, often large in cell size, were confined mainly in the lateral hypothalamic area and partly in the dorsomedial and periventricular hypothalamic nuclei. Possible significance of these two glucose transporters in the hypothalamus is briefly discussed.