Figure 2.

Castration decreases hcrt/orx-ir in male rat hypothalamus. A, Representative micrographs of hcrt/orx-labeled neurons in one hemisphere show significant decreases in cell number by 28 d after castration. Inset values are mean cell counts for both hemispheres ± SEM; **p < 0.005. Scale bar, 200 μm; fx, fornix. B, Western immunoblots show significant decreases in hypothalamic prepro-hcrt/orx of 28 d castrates. Each band represents the signal from one animal in either group. Values are mean ± SEM optical density (od) units for hcrt/orx relative to β-actin; *p < 0.05. C, Immunoblots for prepro-hcrt/orx in 28 d castrates show E₂ to maintain hypothalamic hcrt/orx content equivalent to that of shams when compared with oil-treated controls. Groups with the same lowercase letter are not significantly different (p < 0.05).