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Effects of dopamine β-hydroxylase genotype and disulfiram inhibition on catecholamine homeostasis in mice

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Abstract

Rationale

Dopamine β-hydroxylase (DBH) converts dopamine (DA) to norepinephrine (NE), thus playing a critical role in catecholamine metabolism.

Objectives/Methods

We examined the effects of Dbh gene dosage and the DBH inhibitor disulfiram in mice with zero, one, or two null Dbh alleles (+/+, +/−, and −/− mice).

Results

DBH protein levels in adrenal and prefrontal cortex (PFC) and adrenal DBH activity were proportional to number of wild-type alleles. Adrenal DA was slightly increased in +/− mice and markedly increased (80-fold) in −/− mice compared to wild-type animals. While adrenal NE and epinephrine (EPI) were undetectable in −/− mice, adrenal concentrations of NE and EPI were similar in +/+ and +/− mice, suggesting that the increase in DA maintains the normal rate of β-hydroxylation in Dbh +/− mice. Disulfiram had little effect on adrenal catecholamine levels, regardless of genotype or dose. NE was absent in the PFC of −/− mice, but only slightly reduced in +/− animals compared to wild-type animals. PFC DA was increased twofold in +/− mice and fivefold in −/− mice, and the NE to DA ratio was reduced (∼35%) in +/− mice, compared to wild-type mice. Disulfiram significantly decreased PFC NE and increased DA in +/+ and +/− animals, with the disulfiram and genotype effects on the PFC NE to DA ratio apparently additive.

Conclusions

The data reveal potentially important and apparently additive effects of Dbh genotype and disulfiram administration on PFC catecholamine metabolism. These effects may have implications for genetic control of DBH activity in humans and for understanding therapeutic effects of disulfiram.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Porche' Kirkland for technical assistance, Dr. Betty Eipper and Dr. Steven Ebert for providing DBH antibody, and Sumitomo Pharmaceuticals (Osaka, Japan) for their generous donation of the DOPS required to breed the Dbh −/− mice. Z.R.D. was funded by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Human Genetics, Emory University School of Medicine, Whitehead 301, 615 Michael St., Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA

    Brooke N. Bourdélat-Parks, Zoe R. Donaldson, L. Cameron Liles & David Weinshenker

  2. Yale Child Study Center, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA

    George M. Anderson

  3. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Jay M. Weiss, Robert W. Bonsall & Milburn S. Emery

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  1. Brooke N. Bourdélat-Parks
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  2. George M. Anderson
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  3. Zoe R. Donaldson
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  4. Jay M. Weiss
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  5. Robert W. Bonsall
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  6. Milburn S. Emery
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  7. L. Cameron Liles
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  8. David Weinshenker
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Correspondence to David Weinshenker.

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B.N. Bourdélat-Parks and G.M. Anderson contributed equally to this work

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Bourdélat-Parks, B.N., Anderson, G.M., Donaldson, Z.R. et al. Effects of dopamine β-hydroxylase genotype and disulfiram inhibition on catecholamine homeostasis in mice. Psychopharmacology 183, 72–80 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-005-0139-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-005-0139-8

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