Localization of angiotensin II (AT1)-receptor-immunoreactive fibres in the hypothalamus of rats: angiotensin II-sensitive tanycytes in the ependyma of the third ventricle?

Scanning the hypothalamus of rats for receptor binding sites of the octapeptide hormone angiotensin II (ANG II), we observed ANG II-sensitive fibres in the ventrolateral hypothalamus. The ANG II (AT1)-receptor-immunoreactive processes originate from cells—probably tanycytes—embedded in the base and the ventrolateral walls of the third ventricle and reach into the retrochiasmatic area, the ventrolateral hypothalamus and the median eminence. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]