The role of oxytocin in the regulation of pancreatic function in animals with diabetes mellitus corrected by interval hypoxic training

Abstract

The oxytocin-producing system of the hypothalamus, represented by the supraoptic and posteromedial and anterior large-cell subnuclei of the hypothalamic paraventricular nuclei was studied in Wistar rats. Morphometric methods and detection of oxytocin-producing neurons by indirect immunofluorescence and measurements of immunoreactive oxytocin in the neurons and the median eminence of the hypothalamus were used in the study. Interval hypoxic training corrected the course of experimental diabetes mellitus. Increased production and secretion of oxytocin play an active role in this process. Interval hypoxic training led to an increase of the levels of immunoreactive oxytocin in the neurons of the supraoptic and paraventricular nuclei and in the median eminence of the hypothalamus, whereas the size of neuronal nucleoli remained unchanged. In diabetes mellitus the content of oxytocin in the neurons was less increased, whereas the nucleoli were notably enlarged. Interval hypoxic training caused the most expressed increase of oxytocin content in the neurons and the median eminence of the hypothalamus, which indicated a high level of synthetic and secretory activity of oxytocin-producing system of the hypothalamus.