Suenaga N, Oishi R, Fukuda T
Brain Res. 1979 Nov 9;177(1):83-93. doi: 10.1016/0006-8993(79)90919-3.
The role of the central norepinephrine (NE) system, especially the locus coeruleus (LC), in the occurrence of decapitation convulsions was investigated in rats. Intraspinal injection of 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) caused a significant inhibition of decapitation convulsions as shown by prolongation of the latency and shortening of the convulsion's duration, as well as decreasing the NE content of the spinal cord to 35% of the control value without affecting the NE content of the various regions in the brain. Chemical lesion of the descending bundle from the LC by treatment with 6-OHDA significantly inhibited decapitation convulsions in a similar manner. Moreover, there was a decrease in the NE content of the spinal cord and hypothalamus to 24% and 47% of the control value, respectively. Bilateral electrolytic lesion of the LC also significantly inhibited decapitation convulsions and decreased the NE content of the cortex and spinal cord to 15% and 74% of the control value, respectively. However, lesions of the dorsal and ventral NE bundle by treatment with 6-OHDA, which caused a marked decrease in the NE content of the cortex and hypothalamus, respectively, did not affect the decapitation convulsion. Intraspinal injection of 5,6-dihydroxytryptamine resulted in a decrease in the 5-hydroxytryptamine content of the spinal cord only; moreover, it did not change the decapitation convulsion. These results suggest that coeruleospinal NE neurons play an important role in the occurrence of decapitation convulsions.
在大鼠中研究了中枢去甲肾上腺素（NE）系统，尤其是蓝斑（LC），在断头惊厥发生中的作用。脊髓内注射6-羟基多巴胺（6-OHDA）可显著抑制断头惊厥，表现为潜伏期延长、惊厥持续时间缩短，同时脊髓NE含量降至对照值的35%，而不影响脑内各区域的NE含量。用6-OHDA处理使来自LC的下行束发生化学损伤，以类似方式显著抑制断头惊厥。此外，脊髓和下丘脑的NE含量分别降至对照值的24%和47%。双侧电解损伤LC也显著抑制断头惊厥，皮层和脊髓的NE含量分别降至对照值的15%和74%。然而，用6-OHDA处理背侧和腹侧NE束造成损伤，分别使皮层和下丘脑的NE含量显著降低，但不影响断头惊厥。脊髓内注射5,6-二羟基色胺仅导致脊髓5-羟色胺含量降低；此外，它并未改变断头惊厥。这些结果表明，蓝斑脊髓NE神经元在断头惊厥的发生中起重要作用。
