[Differential voltametry: a new method for studying the cerebral metabolism of monoamines]

In vivo electrochemistry by differential pulse voltammetry represents an interesting option for functional neurochemistry or neuropharmacology. This paper successively presents the principle of the method and the technical bases of the measurement. The particular points of the specificity of the method and the necessary identification procedure of the different species detected in vivo are discussed (see fig. 1 to 7) with special reference to the detection of ascorbic acid and catechol compounds. Success for analysis of 5-hydroxy-indolic compounds are also referenced. In a second part of the paper an example of an in vivo metabolic exploration is presented. The detection of a catechol compound in the rat locus coeruleus, its identification as being extracellular DOPAC, its origin in noradrenergic cell bodies, its relationship with the activity of this group of noradrenaline containing perikarya are discussed (see fig. 8 to 15).