Extra-focal catecholamine levels in ‘kindled’ rat forebrains

Abstract

• 1.

  1. Levels of noradrenaline, dopamine and dopamine metabolites were measured in the striatum, limbic system and hypothalamus of amygdala-kindled and yoked control rats.

• 2.

  2. Subjects were sacrificed three weeks after the kindled animals had displayed their fifth “Stage 5” generalized convulsion.

• 3.

  3. No significant differences between kindled and control brains were found in any region except the hypothalamus. In the hypothalamus, noradrenaline and dopamine levels were significantly elevated in the kindled tissue. DOPAC was unchanged.

• 4.

  4. The data suggest that amygdala kindling produces long lasting catecholaminergic changes in the hypothalamus, a major target for amygdaloid efferent fibers. They are in general agreement with the “noradrenaline hypothesis” of kindling.