ABSTRACT
The anterior, middle, and posterior hypothalamus, the cortex cerebri, the anterior hypophysis as well as the diaphragm of adult ovariectomized rats were incubated in vitro with tritiated 17β-oestradiol. The uptake of tritiated oestradiol was differentially distributed intracerebrally with higher accumulation in the anterior hypothalamus and the hypophysis. Lowering the temperature of the incubation medium caused a reduction in the uptake of radioactivity by the anterior hypothalamus as compared to that found in other brain tissues. Tritiated oestradiol taken up in vitro by the anterior hypothalamus and the hypophysis tended to be retained after further incubation in a steroid-free medium. The addition of non-radioactive 17β-oestradiol to the medium inhibited the uptake of tritiated oestradiol by these tissues. Moreover, pretreatment with non-radioactive 17β-oestradiol in vivo prevented the preferential accumulation of tritiated oestradiol in vitro in the anterior hypothalamus and the hypophysis. These results indicate that oestradiol is preferentially taken up in vitro by the anterior hypothalamus and the hypophysis of the rat.
