Gonadal hormone regulation of glial fibrillary acidic protein immunoreactivity and glial ultrastructure in the rat neuroendocrine hypothalamus

The influence of gonadal steroids on the ultrastructure of glial cells and on the immunoreactivity for the specific astrocytic marker glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) has been assessed in the neuroendocrine hypothalamus. The following parameters were analyzed in the arcuate nucleus of adult female rats: the number and the surface density of cells immunoreactive for GFAP, the number of glial profiles showing bundles of glial filaments, the size of the bundles of glial filaments, and the proportion of neuronal perikaryal membrane apposed by glial processes. These parameters were studied during the different phases of the estrous cycle, after ovariectomy, and after the administration of estradiol or progesterone to ovariectomized rats. No significant differences were detected in the number of GFAP-immunoreactive cells among the different experimental groups. The surface density of GFAP-immunoreactive material, the number of glial profiles in the neuropil, and the proportion of neuronal perikaryal membrane covered by glia were increased in the afternoon of proestrus and in the morning of estrus compared with other phases of the estrous cycle or to ovariectomized rats and showed a rapid (5 h) and reversible increase in ovariectomized rats injected with 17 beta estradiol, with a maximal effect by 24 h after the administration of the hormone. In contrast, the size of the bundles of glial filaments was decreased in the afternoon of proestrus, in the morning of estrus, and by the administration of estradiol to ovariectomized rats. The parameters studied were not affected by the administration of progesterone. However, progesterone (300 micrograms/rat) blocked the effects of 17 beta estradiol (1, 10, and 300 micrograms). The results suggest that glial cells may be actively involved in the modulation of neuroendocrine events by the hypothalamus.