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Influence of midbrain raphe lesion on some pharmacological and biochemical effects of apomorphine in rats

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Abstract

The influence of apomorphine on body temperature, motor activity and forebrain content of serotonin and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid in midbrain raphe lesioned rats was investigated. Apomorphine elevates the brain concentration of serotonin and its metabolite and promotes hypothermia in normal and in sham-lesioned rats but it does not produce these biochemical effects and attenuates hypothermia in rats with lesions of the midbrain raphe nuclei. In the lesioned subjects apomorphine stimulates the locomotor activity more strongly. The results confirm the previously expressed hypothesis concerning the role of serotonin in the locomotor stimulation and hypothermia induced by apomorphine in rats.

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Grabowska, M. Influence of midbrain raphe lesion on some pharmacological and biochemical effects of apomorphine in rats. Psychopharmacologia 39, 315–322 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00422971

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00422971

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