The Use of Dopamine β -hydroxylase as a Marker for the Central Noradrenergic Nervous System in Rat Brain
Abstract
Improvements in the method for localization of dopamine-β-hydroxylase by immunofluorescence allow the observation of noradrenergic-cell bodies, non-terminal fibers, and axon terminals in the rat brain. The distribution of the hydroxylase correlated well with the results obtained by localization of norepinephrine. Dopamine-β-hydroxylase was not observed in dopaminergic neurons or terminals, indicating that these cells do not have the capacity to synthesize norepinephrine. The use of the hydroxylase as a marker, however, has made it possible to visualize noradrenergic nerve terminals on small arteries in the brain parenchyma that have not been described by catecholamine-fluorescence histochemistry. The source of the terminals on small arteries appears to be central noradrenergic neurons rather than the peripheral sympathetic nervous system. Dopamine-β-hydroxylase generally was not observed in the large arteries of the brain parenchyma. These observations suggest that cerebral microcirculation is regulated by central noradrenergic neurons.
- Publication:
-
Proceedings of the National Academy of Science
- Pub Date:
- September 1972
- DOI:
- 10.1073/pnas.69.9.2722
- Bibcode:
- 1972PNAS...69.2722H