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Rapid Postmortem Increase in Extracellular Dopamine in the Rat Brain as Assessed by Brain Microdialysis
Author(s) -
Vulto Arnold G.,
Sharp Trevor,
Ungerstedt Urban,
Versteeg Dirk H. G.
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
journal of neurochemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.75
H-Index - 229
eISSN - 1471-4159
pISSN - 0022-3042
DOI - 10.1111/j.1471-4159.1988.tb01808.x
Subject(s) - microdialysis , extracellular , dopamine , nucleus accumbens , homovanillic acid , chemistry , extracellular fluid , medicine , 3,4 dihydroxyphenylacetic acid , endocrinology , biology , biochemistry , receptor , serotonin
Extracellular dopamine (DA) and its metabolites 3,4‐dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC) and homovanil‐lic acid (HVA) in rat nucleus accumbens were determined before and shortly following death using microdialysis. A maximal 400‐fold increase in the output of DA was observed within the first 5 min of death. DA output remained elevated over the following hour at a level of approximately 70‐fold above pre‐death values. In contrast to that of DA, DOPAC and HVA output gradually declined. Before death the extracellular DOPAC/DA ratio was about 250; after death this ratio dropped to 0.44 at 5 min. These observations may have important implications for experiments measuring the output of (endogenous) DA and its metabolites from brain tissue in vitro: autoregulation of, e.g., transmitter release and synthesis in vitro may be seriously disrupted by the observed depletion of transmitter storage granules.