Abstract
An elevation in blood pressure was produced in rats after either intracisternal (1-10 mg/kg) or i.p. (100-200 mg/kg) injections of p-chlorophenylalanine. The elevation was dose-related. Pulse and respiration rates showed no significant changes. The pressor response was preceded by selective depletion of serotonin in the brain and was blocked by simultaneous or subsequent treatment with 5-hydroxytryptophan. Data from these and from experiments in which the brain stem was transected sequentially suggest that the pressor response to p-chlorophenylalanine is mediated by depletion of serotonin in the brain stem and that "serotonergic" structures in the rostral medulla may exert an important role in central tonic regulation of systemic blood pressure in rats.
Footnotes
- Accepted December 16, 1971.
- © 1972, by The Williams & Wilkins Company
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