Abercrombie E D, Jacobs B L
Neurosci Lett. 1987 May 6;76(2):203-8. doi: 10.1016/0304-3940(87)90716-6.
Microinjection of the alpha 2-adrenoceptor agonist, clonidine (CLON; 1.0 microgram/0.1 microliter) effected a virtually complete suppression of the spontaneous activity of noradrenergic neurons of the locus coeruleus in freely moving cats. This effect lasted for approximately 90 min and was reversible by systemic administration of the alpha 2-adrenoceptor antagonist, yohimbine. In contrast, CLON had no consistent effect on the activity of neighboring non-noradrenergic neurons. These results provide additional evidence for the direct inhibition of central noradrenergic neurons by CLON by demonstrating such effects independent of anesthesia or the behavioral effects of systemic drug administration. More generally, these findings demonstrate the usefulness of a technique in which small amounts of drug can be applied in small volumes to produce a neuropharmacologically specific effect upon locally recorded neurons in behaving animals.
微量注射α2 -肾上腺素能受体激动剂可乐定（CLON；1.0微克/0.1微升）几乎完全抑制了自由活动猫蓝斑去甲肾上腺素能神经元的自发活动。这种效应持续约90分钟，可通过全身给予α2 -肾上腺素能受体拮抗剂育亨宾逆转。相比之下，可乐定对邻近的非去甲肾上腺素能神经元的活动没有一致的影响。这些结果通过证明这些效应独立于麻醉或全身给药的行为效应，为可乐定直接抑制中枢去甲肾上腺素能神经元提供了额外的证据。更普遍地说，这些发现证明了一种技术的实用性，即可以将少量药物以小体积应用，对行为动物中局部记录的神经元产生神经药理学特异性效应。
