Journal of Neuroscience, Vol 9, 2297-2305, Copyright © 1989 by Society for Neuroscience
Regulation of subtypes of beta-adrenergic receptors in rat brain following treatment with 6-hydroxydopamine
EW Johnson, BB Wolfe and PB Molinoff
Department of Pharmacology, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia 19104.
The technique of quantitative autoradiography has been used to localize
changes in the densities of subtypes of beta-adrenergic receptors in rat
brain following treatment with 6-hydroxydopamine. Previously reported
increases in the density of beta 1-adrenergic receptors in the cerebral
cortex were confirmed. The anatomical resolution of autoradiography made it
possible to detect changes in the density of beta 2-adrenergic receptors in
the cortex and in a number of other brain regions. The density of beta
1-adrenergic receptors increased from 30 to 50% depending on the region of
the cortex being examined. The increase in the somatomotor cortex was
greater than that in the frontal or occipital cortex. The increase in the
density of beta 2- adrenergic receptors in the cortex was not as widespread
as that of beta 1-adrenergic receptors and occurred primarily in frontal
cortex, where the density of receptors increased by 40%. The densities of
both beta 1- and beta 2-adrenergic receptors increased in a number of
forebrain, thalamic, and midbrain structures. Selective changes in the
density of beta 1-adrenergic receptors were observed in the superficial
gray layer of the superior colliculus and in the amygdala. The density of
beta 2-adrenergic receptors increased in the caudate-putamen, the
substantia nigra, and the lateral and central nuclei of the thalamus,
whereas the density of beta 1-adrenergic receptors did not change in these
regions. The densities of both subtypes of beta-adrenergic receptors
increased in the hippocampus, the cerebellum, the lateral posterior nucleus
of the thalamus, and the dorsal lateral geniculate.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT
250 WORDS)