Catecholamine contents of rabbit gingiva and dental pulp

The contents of endogenous noradrenaline (NA) in rabbit gingiva and dental pulp were approximately 15-fold greater than either adrenaline (A) or dopamine (DA). Whereas catecholamine contents of maxillary incisor pulps were similar to those in mandibular incisor pulps, variations existed between gingiva excised from different regions. Both reserpine pretreatment and chronic sympathetic denervation greatly decreased the NA contents. These findings support the view that NA is the sympathetic neurotransmitter in dental pulp and gingiva.