LHRH systems in brain of platyfish

Abstract

The luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH) system of the platyfish Xiphophorus has been studied using immunohistochemistry and retrograde transport of horseradish peroxidase (HRP). Three different populations of LHRH-positive cell bodies are present in the brain, one in the ventral telencephalon at the border to the olfactory bulb (nucleus of olfactoretinalis), one lateral to the n. preopticus (nucleus preopticus basalis lateralis) and one in the midbrain. LHRH neurons from the nucleus olfactoretinalis project via the medial olfactory tract to the olfactory bulb and to olfactory nerves. A second projection from this nucleus enters the optic tract, crosses in the optic chiasm, and courses rostrally in the outer layer of the optic nerve to the retina, where LHRH-positive nerve fibers terminate near amacrine and bipolar cells. HRP injections into the eye or into the cut optic nerve result in retrograde transport of the enzyme to the contralateral LHRH nucleus olfactoretinalis. Projections from LHRH neurons in the lateral preoptic region can be followed medially to surround the interhemispheric ventricle and laterally to border the optic tract. At the level of the postoptic commissure, LHRH fibers condense to form a fascicle which reaches the pituitary stalk to arborize throughout the hypophysis. LHRH fibers, probably in part from the midbrain LHRH neurons, project to the optic tectum, torus semicircularis, corpus and valvula of the cerebellum, as well as to the medulla oblongata. Associations of LHRH projections with sensory systems and with endocrine-autonomic systems in hypothalamus-pituitary and lower brain stem suggest a role in the modulation and integration of sensory, autonomic, behavioral and hypophyseotrophic functions.