Glutamatergic innervation of the hypothalamic median eminence and posterior pituitary of the rat

These data suggest that neurosecretory neurons located mainly within the paraventricular, anterior periventricular and supraoptic nuclei and around the organum vasculosum of the lamina terminalis and the preoptic area secrete glutamate into the fenestrated vessels of the median eminence and posterior pituitary. The functional aspects of the putative neuropeptide/glutamate co-release from neuroendocrine terminals remain to be elucidated.