The effects of chronic administration of captopril on the mouse median eminence

A. Castañeyra-Perdomo, E. Carmona-Calero, M. del M. Pérez-Delgado, H. Pérez-González, N. Marrero-Gordillo and R. Ferres-Torres

Department of Anatomy, School of Medicine, University of La Laguna, La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain

Offprint requests to: Dr. A. Castañeyra-Perdomo, Departamento de Anatomía, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de La Laguna, 38320 Tenerife (Spain)

Summary. The effects of Captopril (an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor) on the median eminence (ME) of the male albino mouse have been examined using morphometric and immunohistochemical procedures. We measured the nuclear area of the ependymocytes of the ME and of the glial cells of the reticular external zone of the ME. We also determined the cell/neuropil coefficient (CNC), which expresses the relation between cellular area and neuropil of the ME, and the global volume of the ME in each animal. For the immunohistochemical study we used rabbit anti-arginine-vasopressin, and compared the results in the different groups of mice. We detected an increase in the immunoreactive material (arginine-vasopressin, A-V) and an increase in the global volume of the organ and also an increase of the neuropil of the ME after the longest exposure to the drug. These alterations could be related to the inhibition of the brain angiotensin II by captopril and the accumulation of vasopressin in the fibrous tract that runs from the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) to the neurohypophysis. Histol Histopathol 13, 301-305 (1998)

Key words: Captopril, Vasopressin, Morphometry, Immunohistochemistry, Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor, Mouse

DOI: 10.14670/HH-13.301