Effects of LHRH, progesterone, estradiol-17 ? and dexamethasone in vitro on pineal synaptic ribbons and serotonin N-acetyltransferase activity in diestrous rats

Pineal glands of regularly cycling Sprague Dawley rats (180-220 g) killed on the diestrous morning (between 0900-1000 h) were incubated in appropriate media for six hours with LHRH (8.5 microM), progesterone (3.2 microM), estradiol-17 beta (370 nM) or dexamethasone (250 nM). Pineals incubated in hormone-free medium and unincubated glands served as controls. Six rats were used in each group. After incubation the glands were divided into two parts. One part was used to estimate serotonin N-acetyltransferase (NAT) activity. The other part was processed for electron microscopy to quantify synaptic ribbons (SR). The SR numbers were computed to 20,000 microns 2 area of pineal tissue. The number a…