Effects of systemic administration of 6-hydroxydopamine on the circumventricular organs in nonhuman primates. I. Area postrema.

6-Hydroxydopamine (6-OH-DA) has been shown to produce degenerative changes in noradrenergic nerve terminals and preterminals in the CNS following intracisternal, intraventricular or direct injection into the brain parenchyma. Systemic injection of 6-OH-DA is known to result in degenerative changes in noradrenergic terminals in the peripheral nervous system. However, only a few studies have been carried out on the effects of systemic injections of 6-OH-DA on noradrenergic terminals in the CNS. In the present study cynomolgus and squirrel monkeys were injected intravenously on two successive days with total doses of 350 mg/kg and 150 mg/kg of 6-OH-DA, respectively, and sacrificed at 2 and 24 h following the second injection. Degenerative changes in the area postrema (AP) neurons in all injected animals were characterized by a generalized increase in electron density of cytoplasmic elements in axonal terminals and preterminals. Multilamellar bodies, clusters of clear and dense core vesicles, increased numbers of secondary lysosomes, and an increase in the number of glycogen increased markedly in injected animals, but no other glial alterations were observed. The number of mast cells in the AP was greater in injected than in noninjected animals, both in the perivascular spaces (PVS) and in parenchymal locations. Cell processes in the PVS were occasionally observed to contain electron dense bodies, and degenerative changes were seen in supraependymal processes in some injected animals.