Adrenal steroid regulation of central angiotensin II receptor subtypes and oxytocin receptors in rat brain.

The neuropeptides angiotensin II (AngII) and oxytocin (OT) play important but opposing roles in the regulation of sodium appetite in the rat, AngII as a stimulatory peptide and OT as an inhibitory peptide. Adrenal steroids increase the density of AngII receptors in brain following in vivo administration, although the neuroanatomical and subtype specificity have not been thoroughly examined. Furthermore, previous studies demonstrate that adrenalectomy (ADX) leads to a reduction in OT receptors, although regions associated with sodium appetite remain to be examined. In the present study, quantitative receptor autoradiography was used to locate regions where perturbations in circulating adrenal steroids affect the density of oxytocin receptors and the angiotensin receptor subtypes AT1 and AT2. The results show that ADX results in a small, but significant decrease in AT1 expression in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus, subfornical organ, and the area postrema. That this effect is reversed by either aldosterone or low-dose corticosterone replacement suggests that occupancy of the mineralocorticoid receptor is responsible for the steroid effect. No changes were observed in AT2 or OT receptors in nuclei associated with sodium appetite, indicating that perturbations in adrenal steroids did not affect these receptors in brain regions implicated in the control of salt appetite. Copyright 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.