A developmental study of neuron-specific enolase in rat adrenal medulla

The levels of neuron-specific enolase (NSE) in rat adrenal medulla increase with age. A sharp increase was observed until the age of 15 days. At this time, the NSE level dropped slightly, followed by a gradual increase until the rats were 1 year old. The adrenal medullary NSE levels in males were higher than those observed in females. The difference was seen from 32 days of age, but was not statistically significant until 1 year. This study indicates that NSE can be used as a marker for differentiation in adrenal medulla, as it is used in the central nervous system and in neuroblastoma and pheochromocytoma cells.