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Updated: Jun 25, 2026

Localization of the Locus Coeruleus in the Mouse Brain
Published on: March 7, 2019
Monoaminergic changes in locus coeruleus and dorsal raphe nucleus following noradrenaline depletion
Tommaso Cassano1, Silvana Gaetani, Maria Grazia Morgese
1Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Foggia, Viale Luigi Pinto, 1, 71100 Foggia, Italy. tommaso.cassano@unifg.it
Abstract:
The goal of our study was to assess the monoaminergic changes in locus coeruleus (LC) and dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN) following noradrenaline (NA) depletion. Seven days after a single N-(2-chloroethyl)-N-ethyl-2-bromobenzylamine (DSP-4) intraperitoneal administration in mice, we observed a decrease of NA in both the LC and DRN, as well as in prefrontal cortex (PFC) and hippocampus (HIPP). Moreover, an increase of serotonin (5-HT) and 5-hydroxyindolacetic acid (5-HIAA) was detected at LC level, while no change was found in DRN. DSP-4 also caused a significant decrease of dopamine (DA) tissue content in HIPP and DRN, without affecting the LC and the PFC. A decrease of DA metabolite, homovanillic acid (HVA), was found in the DRN of NA-depleted mice. These results highlight that the neurotoxic action of DSP-4 is not restricted to LC terminal projections but also involves NA depletion at the cell body level, where it is paralleled by adaptive changes in both serotonergic and dopaminergic systems.
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