TABLE IV.

Comparison of apoptotic cell number in the infra-pyramidal and supra-pyramidal blades of the septal dentate gyrus in adrenalectomized (ADX) rats infused with CRH antagonist compared with sham-ADX, ADX alone and ADX rats infused with vehicle

Treatment:	Infra-pyramidal	Supra-pyramidal
Sham ADX	0.7±0.26	0.6±0.30
ADX	2.1±0.34	3.2±0.53
ADX-Antagonist	2.7±0.39	7.2±3.10
ADX-Vehicle	2.8±0.44	4.9±0.79

The values are means ± S.E.M. of apoptotic cells counted in both the left and right dentate gyrus, in the three most anterior sections of each of three rats per group within the septal region of the hippocampal formation. The anterior septal region was chosen since it is the closest to the cannula site. The infra-pyramidal blade, which is closer to the cerebral lateral ventricle, is compared to the suprapyramidal blade, to look for a local protective effect of the CRH antagonist against ADX-induced granule cell death. For both the inferior and the superior blades, experimental group medians arc significantly different (p < 0.0004; Kruskal-Wallis nonparametic ANOVA test). Post-hoc Dunn’s multiple comparison test reveals a significant difference between the control and each of the ADX groups, but no significant difference among the three ADX groups.