Supramammillary afferents to guinea pig hippocampus contain substance P-like immunoreactivity

The origin of substance P immunoreactive (SPI) axons in guinea pig hippocampus was analyzed using immunocytochemical techniques combined with transections and retrograde transport of fluorescent dye. A unilateral depletion of hippocampal axonal SPI was observed following ipsilateral transection of rostral hippocampus and fibria suggesting that the vast majority of SPI axons in hippocampus are extrinsic afferents which enter the structure from the septal pole. The combined use of immunocytochemistry and fluorescent dye transport demonstrated the supramammillary region of the hypothalamus to be the only area where dye-labeled hippocampal afferent neurons also exhibited SPI. These data indicate that the supramammillary region is the principal source of SPI axons in guinea pig hippocampus and, most probably, in the hippocampus of other animals (squirrel, cat, monkey) sharing a similar pattern of axonal SPI.