Regional changes in monoamine content and uptake of the rat brain during postnatal development

Abstract

Regional norepinephrine (NE), dopamine (DA) and serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) contents in the developing rat brain were estimated. The rate of increase in NE content was the highest in diencephalon, followed by the lower brain stem, limbic-striatum, neocortex and cerebellum. With postnatal aging, DA concentration increased markedly in limbic-striatum, slightly in the neocortex and negligibly in the other regions. In each region except cerebellum, 5-HT content increased gradually but the rate of increase in diencephalon was relatively high. Comparison of the kinetics of high affinity uptake of l-[ 3H]NE and [ 3H]5-HT between the neonatal and the adult brain indicated that K m values of l-[ 3H]NE and [ 3H]5-HT uptake were 2.9 × 10 −7 M and 1.7 × 10 −7 M respectively in neocortex, diencephalon and lower brain stem and 4.3 × 10 −7 M and 2.3 × 10 −7 M in limbic-striatum in the neonate as well as in the adult. V max values of both amines uptake differed regionally and the values in the neonate were lower than those in the adult in all regions. Limbic-striatum showed a higher V max value than other regions in uptake of both amines. These results suggested that innervation of monoaminergic neurons in the brain progressed with increasing age, that projections of both NE and 5-HT neurons were relatively high into hypothalamus and limbic-striatum and that DA neuron projections concentrated at striatum. Although the brain, except for limbic-striatum, showed neither regional nor developmental differences in affinity of l-[ 3H]NE and [ 3H]5-HT to synaptosomes, the density of nerve terminal of both monoaminergic neurons increased in all regions of the brain during postnatal development. In limbic-striatum, higher K m and V max values of both amines, suggest the existence of both amines' uptake into DA terminal to some extent.