Regional differences in catecholamine formation and metabolism in the rat spinal cord

Catecholamine metabolism was assessed from the content of norepinephrine (NE), dopamine (DA) and their metabolites in various regions of the rat spinal cord during steady-state conditions and following treatment with alpha-methyl-p-tyrosine. The content of NE was rather uniform along the cord while DA was higher in the rostral portion of the cord than in the caudal portion. For both NE and DA there was a rostrocaudal decrease of their turnover rates along the cord. In the cervical cord, DA was formed at a faster rate than NE. There was no correlation between the content of catecholamine metabolites and amine turnover rates. The non-uniformity of catecholamine turnover in the cord probably arises from the fact that different regions of brain project to different regions of cord, each having a specific physiological function. Furthermore, our study provides added support for the presence of an independent DA-containing neuronal system in the spinal cord.