Lack of glucocorticoids attenuates the self-stimulation-induced increase in the in vivo synthesis rate of dopamine but not serotonin in the rat nucleus accumbens
by
Nakahara D, Nakamura M, Oki Y, Ishida Y.
Departments of Psychology and Internal Medicine,
Hamamatsu University School of Medicine,
Hamamatsu, Japan.
nakahara@hama-med.ac.jp
Eur J Neurosci 2000 Apr; 12(4):1495-500

ABSTRACT

Our previous study demonstrated that intracranial self-stimulation of the medial forebrain bundle can increase the in vivo synthesis turnover rate of dopamine (DA) and serotonin (5-HT) in the nucleus accumbens of adrenal-intact rats. The present study examined using microdialysis whether such increases in DA and 5-HT syntheses are influenced by adrenal hormones, which are also activated following intracranial self-stimulation. A decarboxylase inhibitor, NSD-1015, was perfused through reversed microdialysis which enabled the simultaneous measurement of 3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (DOPA) and 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP) as an index of the in vivo turnover rate of DA and 5-HT syntheses. Adrenalectomy (ADX) attenuated significantly the self-stimulation-induced increase in dialysate levels of DOPA but not 5-HTP. Corticosterone (Cort) replacement reversed the attenuation in DOPA levels in adrenalectomized rats. The finding indicates that activation of DA synthesis in vivo in the nucleus accumbens during intracranial self-stimulation is dependent on, whereas that of 5-HT synthesis is independent of glucocorticoid modulation.

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