CHRONIC ADMINISTRATION OF ELECTROCONVULSIVE SHOCK AND NOREPINEPHRINE METABOLISM IN RAT BRAIN .I. AUTORADIOGRAPHIC STUDY OF DISTRIBUTION PATTERN OF INTRACISTERNALLY INJECTED H3-NOREPINEPHRINE IN UNTREATED RATS

An autoradiographic technique on cryostate sections, which preserves water soluble substances, was employed to study the distribution of norepinephrine in the rat brain. In addition, the usual technique on paraplast embedded sections was used in order to compare both methods. Intracisternally injected H3-NE reaches the brain tissue from the ventricular system and from the basal subarach-noideal space, penetrating up to a depth of 200-500 μ. The distinctly stronger activity of areas known to be rich in catecholamine terminals compared with those containing few terminals suggests an uptake by noradrenergic and dopaminergic nerve endings. The low amount of unspecifically deposited NE diminished faster with longer survival times. Injured nerve cells seem to be specially prone to bind NE or its metabolites. © 1969 Springer-Verlag.