A,Representative digital image of mCherry fluorescence in the supraoptic nucleus (SON) illustrating a successful injection. B, Quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction data showing brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) mRNA expression from the SON of rats with successful SON injections. C, Arginine vasopressin (AVP) heterogeneous RNA expression from the SONs of rats with successful SON injections. Groups: euhydrated rats injected with scrambled (SCR) virus (Eu SCR, n = 6); euhydrated rats injected with shBDNF virus (Eu shBDNF, n = 7); salt loaded rats injected with SCR virus (Salt SCR, n = 7) and salt loaded rats injected with shBDNF virus (Salt shBDNF, n = 7). Data are the mean ± SEM. *P < 0.05 vs all other groups.+P < 0.05 vs Salt SCR. OT, optic tract