Organization of brainstem noradrenaline hyperinnervation following neonatal 6-hydroxydopamine treatment in rat.

Abstract

The organization and origin of NA axonal sprouting in individual brainstem nuclei was examined by fluorescence histochemistry and a radioenzymatic assay for noradrenaline (NA) in adult rats which were administered 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) as neonates. Significant 2–6 fold increases in NA content were measured in primary sensory nuclei, associational nuclei, somatic motor and visceral cranial nerve nuclei, reticular formation, raphe nuclei, and the inferior olivary complex. Fluorescence histochemical analysis reveals a major increase in the number of fluorescent fibers in most areas of the brainstem after 6-OHDA treatment. The normal pattern of innervation and axon morphology of each nucleus is retained after drug treatment. Bilateral locus coeruleus (LC) lesions in treated animals results in the denervation of only those nuclei which normally receive LC innervation (Levitt and Moore, 1979). The increased number of NA-containing axons in nuclei innervated by the lateral tegmental cell groups (LT) remains intact after LC ablation. The present results indicate that the brainstem NA sprouting following neonatal 6-OHDA administration occurs in a highly specified manner. The brainstem projections of both the LC and LT neuron groups exhibit marked axonal growth which is restricted to their specific brainstem terminal fields and probably occurs in response to the denervation of their respective, more rostral target areas.