Catecholamines in experimental spinal cord lesions associated with spinal arachnoiditis.

Catecholamines in the spinal cord and cerebrospinal fluid of dogs with arachnoiditis induced by cisternal kaolin injection were measured by radioenzymatic assay. The levels of noradrenaline in the gray matter of the cervical cord and the cerebrospinal fluid were highest in 1st week (mean values, 127.8 ng/g and 856.0 pg/ml), whereas those in the gray matter of the thoracic and thoracolumbar cord increased to 175.0 and 210.0 ng/g in average respectively in 12th week. The increase in the level of noradrenaline in the gray matter seemed to be related with degenerative cord lesions in almost all segments, while most segments with cavitation indicated low noradrenaline level.