|
|
||||||||
Although the release of oxytocin from the neurohypophysis has been demonstrated both after physiological stimuli such as suckling (Fitzpatrick, 1961) and after administration of pharmacological agents such as nicotine (Bisset & Walker, 1953), very little work appears to have been carried out to investigate how quickly oxytocin is repleted at the posterior pituitary gland after release. In the present investigation the oxytocin content of the pituitary gland was determined at 2, 10, 30 and 120 min after intravenous administration of nicotine to rats. The effect of previous administration of pheniramine, an antihistamine, on the oxytocin-releasing action of nicotine was studied in a further series of experiments.
Male albino rats (150–200 g) were used. Nicotine bitartarate at a dose of 1 mg/kg was injected slowly into the tail vein of the rat. Groups of rats were killed by decapitation at 2, 10, 30 and 120 min after the administration of nicotine.
| HOME | HELP | CONTACT US | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |