Studies on brain monoamine neurotransmitters in mice after prenatal exposure to barbiturate

Joseph Yanai*, Paul Y. Sze, Carmela Iser, Eldad Melamed

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

11 Scopus citations

Abstract

Pregnant HS/Ibg mice received 3 g/kg phenobarbital in their milled food; control dams received unadulterated milled food. Their offspring were tested on ages 22 and 50 days for norepinephrine (NE) and dopamine (DA) levels and DA turnover in the hypothalamus and striatum. Additional groups were tested on days 8, 22, and 50 for brain stem tryptophan hydroxylase (TPH) activity. Hypothalamic DA level among offspring with prenatal PhB exposure (B offspring) was 37% below control level on age 22 days and 61% below control on day 50 (p < 0.001). Hypothalamic NE level of B offspring was reduced on age 50 days (52%, p<0.05) and not on day 22. DOPAC level and DA turnover did not differ among B and control groups. Prenatal exposure to PhB did not have a significant effect on TPH activity. The changes in catecholamines may mediate, at least in part, some of the early barbiturate induced neuromorphological and behavioral changes previously found in our laboratory.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)215-219
Number of pages5
JournalPharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior
Volume23
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 1985

Keywords

  • Dopamine
  • Hypothalamus
  • Mice
  • Norepinephrine
  • Phenobarbital
  • Prenatal treatment
  • Striatum
  • Tryptophan hydroxylase

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