Dehydration selectively increases dopamine synthesis in tuberohypophyseal dopaminergic neurons.

The concentration of dopamine (DA) and the accumulation of DOPA following the administration of a decarboxylase inhibitor were determined in the rat striatum, median eminence and posterior pituitary, regions containing terminals of nigrostriatal, tuberoinfundibular and tuberohypophyseal DA nerves, respectively. Severe dehydration (2 days water deprivation followed by 3 days of 2% NaCl substituted for drinking water) increased the concentration of DA in the posterior pituitary but not in the striatum or median eminence. Less severe dehydration caused by 2 or 3 days of water deprivation did not alter steady state concentrations of DA, but increased DOPA accumulation, an index of DA nerve activity, only in the posterior pituitary. Food deprivation for 3 days did not alter DOPA accumulation in the posterior pituitary. These results suggest that dehydration selectively activates the tuberohypophyseal DA neuronal system in the rat.