Increased expression of tyrosine hydroxylase immunoreactivity in paraventricular and supraoptic neurons in illnesses with prolonged osmotic or nonosmotic stimulation of vasopressin release.

Our previous studies indicated that in the human paraventricular (PVN) and supraoptic (SON) nuclei, tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)--the first and rate-limiting enzyme in catecholamine synthesis--is localized mainly in magnocellular neurons and that antemortem factors regulate its expression. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the distribution of TH-immunoreactive (TH-IR) perikarya of the hypothalami of a large sample of well-documented adult subjects without neurological, psychiatric or endocrinological disease in order to identify factors that could regulate the expression of TH in the human neurosecretory neurons. Our material consisted of the hypothalami of 38 subjects studied immunohistochemically for TH using the peroxidase-antiperoxidase method. Striking individual differences were observed among the subjects studied concerning the number and distribution of TH-IR perikarya within the PVN and SON. These differences were evident throughout the entire rostrocaudal length of the hypothalamus and appeared to be related neither to the age or sex of the subjects nor to the postmortem interval or staining procedures. In the sample studied, a large number of TH-IR perikarya were observed specifically in all subjects that had suffered from right-sided heart failure due to pulmonary hypertension, liver cirrhosis or dehydration. In all the above illnesses, increased production and secretion of vasopressin (VP) are reported to occur due to a decrease in 'effective' blood volume or to osmotic stimulation. We conclude that somatic illnesses leading to prolonged osmotic or nonosmotic stimulation of VP release may induce increased expression of TH immunoreactivity in the human neurosecretory neurons related to neuronal activation. Copyright 2002 S. Karger AG, Basel