The activities of noradrenergic and dopaminergic neuron systems in experimental hydrocephalus.

Experimental hydrocephalus was induced in rabbits by intracisternal injection of kaolin suspension, and the concentration of noradrenaline (NA), dopamine (DA), and their metabolites was determined in several brain regions. The NA concentration had decreased in the cerebellum, hypothalamus, and pons plus medulla oblongata, and increased in the caudate nucleus at 2 days after kaolin injection (the stage of early intracranial hypertension). At 1 week (the stage of progressive hydrocephalus), the NA content had returned to control levels in all brain regions studied, and it decreased again at 4 weeks (the stage of chronic hydrocephalus) in the pons plus medulla oblongata. The DA level was unchanged throughout the 4-week period after kaolin injection. The concentration of 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylethyleneglycol sulfate (MOPEG-SO4), the major metabolite of NA, was elevated in all brian regions except the caudate nucleus at all stages after kaolin injection. An increase in MOPEG-SO4 in the caudate nucleus was also observed 1 week after kaolin injection. The content of homovanillic acid (HVA), the major metabolite of DA in the rabbit brain, was decreased in the cerebral cortex at 2 days and at 1 week after kaolin injection, and in the caudate nucleus at 2 days and at 1 week, and 4 weeks. The level of HVA was increased in the hypothalamus at 2 days, in the cerebellum at 2 days and at 1 week, in the pons plus medulla oblongata at 2 days, 1 week, and 4 weeks, and in the midbrain at 4 weeks. These data suggest that, in experimental hydrocephalus in the rabbit, NA release is increased throughout the brain, while DA release is decreased in the cerebral cortex and caudate nucleus, and increased in the cerebellum, hypothalamus, midbrain, and pons plus medulla oblongata.