CATECHOLAMINE LEVELS AND DOPA-DECARBOXYLASE ACTIVITY IN PERIPHERAL ORGANS AND ADRENERGIC TISSUES IN THE RAT AFTER IMMUNOSYMPATHECTOMY

¹ School of Pharmacy, Department of Biochemical Pharmacology, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York

The treatment of newborn rats with the antiserum to the mouse submaxillary gland nerve growth promoting protein resulted in the following changes in peripheral organs and peripheral adrenergic structures: A permanent depletion of norepinephrine has been observed in the ventricles, right and left atria, submaxillary glands, spleen, superior cervical ganglia, stellate ganglia, adrenergic chain, splanchnic nerves and celiac ganglia. A permanent, but less marked, decrease of the norepinephrine content was found in the lungs, liver, kidneys, small intestine and uterus. The epinephrine content of organs remained the same or decreased, whereas in the neuronal structures it appeared to increase. Brainstem norepinephrine and adrenal epinephrine and norepinephrine were not altered. Dopa-decarboxylase activity decreased significantly in the right and left atria, spleen, submaxillary glands, uterus, superior cervical ganglia, stellate ganglia, adrenergic chain, splanchnic nerves and celiac ganglia. The activity of this enzyme was not decreased in the ventricles, kidneys, lungs, liver or small intestine. In some tissues it is possible to show a correlation between the norepinephrine content, the integrity of the adrenergic nervous system (ganglion cell or postganglionic fiber) and the dopa-decarboxylase activity.