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Precise anatomical distribution of alpha-1 and alpha-2 adrenergic binding sites has been investigated in the rat locus coeruleus (LC) using quantitative radioautography of brain sections incubated with 3H-prazosin or 3H-idazoxan. Distribution patterns of 3H-prazosin (alpha-1 sites) and 3H-idazoxan (alpha-2 sites) were heterogeneous and different along a postero-anterior axis in the LC. Comparison between distribution of alpha-2 binding sites and noradrenergic (NA) cellular density suggests that at least a fraction of these sites might be localized on NA perikarya or dendrites in this structure. Quantitative estimations of the binding parameters along this postero-anterior axis in the LC have revealed that the heterogeneous distributions of alpha-1 and alpha-2 binding sites are due not only to variations in the maximal densities of sites but also to variations in the affinities of these sites for their respective ligand.

The responses of the noradrenaline (NA)- and adrenaline (A)-containing neurons to a reserpine treatment have been studied in the rat brain by using biochemical indices of the neuronal activity. Three days after multiple reserpine injections, tyrosine hydroxylase activity was significantly increased in the locus coeruleus (LC), A1-C1 and C2 regions. No change in this activity was observed in the A2 region. Furthermore, the NA and A endogenous levels were markedly reduced both in NA and A cell bodies and/or terminals, suggesting a reserpine action on NA and A neurons. The NA turnover was unchanged in all the regions analyzed. Conversely, the A turnover was reduced in the LC, A2 and C2 regions and in the nucleus periventricularis of the hypothalamus. This result suggests a different degree of sensitivity and/or response of the NA and A neurons following reserpine administration.

By using preferential microdissection of the adrenaline (A) and noradrenaline (NA) neurons within the A2-C2 region of the rat medulla oblongata, it was possible to study the biochemical response of these two neuronal populations to reserpine administration. Three days after reserpine injections (10 mg/kg s.c., per day for 3 days), tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) activity was increased in the adrenergic C2 region whilst no change was observed in the noradrenergic A2 region. The response of the A neurons to reserpine was of lesser magnitude than the increase in TH activity observed under the same conditions in the NA neurons of the locus coeruleus and of the A5 region, and was likely to have originated in the A cell bodies. In contrast with previous studies, this work suggests that the A-containing neurons are responsive to reserpine administration, despite the lack of change in phenylethanolamine-N-methyltransferase activity.

By using a new microdissection procedure allowing the noradrenaline (NA) and adrenaline (A) cell groups of the A2-C2 region to be sampled preferentially, it was possible to study the biochemical response of these two neuronal populations after 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) administration. Five days after an intraventricular 6-OHDA injection, tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) activity increased (+104%, P less than 0.01) in the adrenergic C2 region, in the locus coeruleus (LC) and in the A1-C1 region, while the NA A2 region exhibited no significant increase. Twenty-one days after 6-OHDA administration, dopamine-beta-hydroxylase (DBH) activity had decreased in both the noradrenergic regions (LC, A1-C1 and A2 regions) and in the C2 adrenergic region. Conversely, phenylethanolamine-N-methyltransferase (PNMT) activity was not modified either in the cell bodies or in the terminals located in the tractus intermediolateralis of the spinal cord and in the hypothalamic nuclei. These data suggest: (i) that adrenaline-containing neurons could be sensitive to the neurotoxic action of 6-OHDA since they exhibit changes in TH and DBH activities; and (ii) that the determination of PNMT activity may not be sensitive enough to estimate the functional integrity of the A cell bodies or terminals.