Summary
Free dopamine (DA) and its metabolites, homovanillic acid (HVA) and 3–4 dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC), have been measured and compared with norepinephrine (NE) concentrations in rat peripheral tissues using high performance liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection (HPLC-ED). Detectable amounts of DA and its metabolites were found in all the analyzed tissues. The highest levels were found in carotid body, sympathetic ganglia, urogenital tract and heart, the lowest in liver and lung. DA and DOPAC distribution was heterogeneous and unrelated to NE concentration. Both the variable value of the DA/DA+NE ratio and the presence of DA metabolites in peripheral tissues indicate that a portion of DA may be stored outside noradrenergic neurons and directly catabolized in specific DA pools.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anden NE, Grabrowska-Anden M (1983) Formation of deaminated metabolites of dopamine in noradrenaline neurons. Naunyn-Schmiedebergs Arch Pharmacol 324: 1–6
Anton AH, Sayre DF (1962) A study of the factors affecting the aluminium oxyde-trihydroxyindole procedure for the analysis of catecholamines. J Pharmacol Exp Ther 138: 360–375
Anton AH, Sayre DF (1964) The distribution of dopamine and dihydroxy-phenylalanine in various animals and a method for their determination in diverse biological material. J Pharmacol Exp Ther 145: 326–336
Bell C, Gillespie JS (1981) Dopamine and norepinephrine levels in peripheral tissues of several mammalian species. J Neurochem 36: 703–706
Bell C, Lang WJ, Laska F (1978 a) Dopamine containing vasomotor nerves in the dog kidney. J Neurochem 31: 77–83
Bell C, Lang WJ, Laska F (1978 b) Dopamine-containing axons supplying the arterio-venous anastomoses of the canine paw-pad. J Neurochem 31: 1329–1333
Bjorklund A, Cegrell L, Falck B, Ritzen M, Rosegren E (1970) Dopamine-containing cells in sympathetic ganglia. Acta Physiol Scand 78: 334–338
Clark B, Meninger K (1980) Peripheral dopamine receptors. Circ Res [Suppl 1] 46: 59–63
Collins GGS, West GB (1968) The release of3H-Dopamine from the isolated rabbit ileum. Br J Pharmacol 34: 514–522
Cottet-Emard JM, Peyrin L (1982) Conjugated HVA increase in rat urine after insuline induced hypoglycemia: involvement of central dopaminergic structures but not of adrenal medulla. J Neural Transm 48: 189–201
Cottet-Emard JM, Peyrin L, Bonnod J (1980) Dietary induced changes in catecholamine metabolites in rat urine. J Neural Transm 48: 189–201
Dinerstein RJ, Vannice J, Henderson RC, Roth LJ, Goldberg LI, Hoffmann PC (1979) Histofluorescence techniques provide evidence to dopamine containing neuronal elements in canine kidney. Science N.Y. 205: 497–499
Fuller RW, Snody HD, Perry KW (1982) Dopamine accumulation after DAβ hydroxylase inhibition in rat heart as an index of NA turnover. Life Sci 31: 563–570
Goldberg LI, Volkman PH, Kohli JD (1978) A comparison of the vascular dopamine receptor with other dopamine receptors. Annu Rev Pharmacol Toxicol 18: 57–79
Hanbauer I, Hellstrom S (1978) The regulation of dopamine and noradrenaline in the rat carotid body and its modification by denervation and hypoxia. J Physiol (London) 282: 21–34
Hansen JT, Christie DS (1981) Rat carotid body catecholamines determined by high performance liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection. Life Sci 29: 1791–1795
Head RJ, Hempstead J, Berkowitz BA (1982) Catecholamines in the vasculature of the rat and rabbit. Blood Vessels 19: 135–147
Hoeldtke R, Rogawski M, Wurtman RJ (1974) Effect of selective destruction of central and peripheral catecholamine-containing neurones with 6-hydroxydopamine on catecholamine excretion in the rat. Br J Pharmacol 50: 265–270
Karoum F, Garrison CK, Neff N, Wyatt RJ (1977) Trans-synaptic modulation of DA metabolism in the rat superior cervical ganglion. J Pharmacol Exp Ther 201: 654–661
Kawaguchi A, Niwa M, Ozaki M (1983) Probenecid increases dopamine metabolite 3,4 dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC) in rat adrenal gland. Jpn J Pharmacol 33: 611–617
Lackovic Z, Kleinman J, Karoum F, Neff NH (1981) Dopamine and its metabolites in human peripheral nerves: Is there a widely distributed system of peripheral dopaminergic nerves?. Life Sci 29: 917–922
Lackovic Z, Relja M (1983) Evidence for a widely distributed peripheral dopaminergic system. Fed Proc 42: 3000–3004
Lackovic Z, Relja M, Neff NH (1982) Catabolism of endogenous dopamine in peripheral tissues: Is there an independant role for dopamine in peripheral neurotransmission? J Neurochem 38: 1453–1458
Lavielle S, Tassin JP, Thierry AM, Blanc C, Herve D, Barthelemy C, Glowinski J (1978) Blockade by benzodiazepine of the selective high increase in dopamine turnover induced by stress mesocortical dopaminergic neurons of the rat. Brain Res 168: 585–594
McDonald DM, Mitchell RA (1975) The innervation of glomus cells, ganglion cells and blood vessels in the rat carotid body: A quantitative ultrastructural analysis. J Neurocytol 4: 177–230
Orloff LA, Orloff MS, Bunnett NW, Walsh JH (1984) Dopamine and norepinephrine in the alimentary tract changes after chemical sympathectomy and surgical vagotomy. Life Sci 36: 1625–1631
Relja M, Lackovic Z, Neff NH (1982) Evidence for the presence of dopaminergic receptors in vas deferens. Life Sci 31: 2571–2575
Simon A, van Maanen EF (1976) DA receptors and dopaminergic nerves in the vas deferens of the rat. Arch Int Pharmacodyn Ther 222: 4–15
Shoaf SE, Elchisak MA (1983) Distribution of free and conjugated DA in rats and mice. Life Sci 33: 625–630
Snider SR, Almgren O, Carlsson A (1973) The occurence and functional significance of DA in some peripheral adrenergic nerves of the rat. Naunyn-Schmiedebergs Arch Pharmacol 278: 1–12
Tayo FM (1979) Occurence of excitatory dopamine receptors in the rat and guinea pig vas deferens. Clin Exp Pharm Physiol 6: 275–279
Wagner J, Palfreyman M, Zraika M (1979) Determination of DOPA, DA, DC, A, NA, aminofluoromethyldopa andα difluoromethyldopa in various tissues of mice and rats using reversed phase ion-pair liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection. J Chromatogr 164: 41–54
Westerink BHC, Mulder TBA (1981) Determination of picomole amounts of dopamine, noradrenaline, 3–4-dihydroxyphenylalanine, 3–4-dihydro-xyphenylacetic acid, 4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenylacetic acid and 5-hydroxyindolacetic acid in nervous tissue after one step purification on Sephadex G10 using high performance liquid chromatography with a novel type of electrochemical detection. J Neurochem 36: 1449–1462
Westerink BHC, van Oene JC (1980) Evaluation of the effect of drugs on dopamine metabolism in the rat superior cervical ganglion by HPLC with electrochemical detection. Eur J Pharmacol 65: 71–79
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Favre, R., de Haut, M., Dalmaz, Y. et al. Peripheral distribution of free dopamine and its metabolites in the rat. J. Neural Transmission 66, 135–149 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01260909
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01260909