Effect of noradrenaline and 5-hydroxytryptamine depletion on locomotion in the cat

It has recently been hypothesized that stimulation of the mesencephalic locomotor region (MLR) can give rise to locomotion in mesencephalic cats due to activation of descending monoaminergic pathways to the spinal cord. This notion is based on the findings that monoamine agonists and precursors can induce hindlimb stepping in acute low spinal animals, and on the similarities between the effects of the noradrenaline (NA) precursor, L-DOPA, and stimulation of the MLR. The hypothesis that the descending monoamine systems comprise the only pathways which control the initiation of locomotion has been tested in the present study. NA was depleted from the CNS using intraspinal and intraventricular injections of 6-hydroxydopamine and i.v. injections of the NA synthesis inhibitor, alpha-methyltyrosine. Depletion of 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) was achieved using intraventricular injections of 5,6-dihydroxytryptamine and i.p. p-chlorophenylalanine. These treatments did not abolish evoked locomotion in spite of substantial depletion of NA and 5-HT in the spinal cord and brain stem (maximal depletions of NA up to 14% of control in lumbar cord and 16% of control in pons; maximal depletions of 5-HT up to 19% of control in sacral cord and 25% of control in medulla). Combined depletion of NA and 5-HT did not abolish evoked locomotion in mesencephalic cats, although the treated animals displayed pronounced ataxia prior to decerebration. Depletion of NA or 5-HT alone did not alter locomotion in otherwise intact animals. A previous report that phenoxybenzamine antagonizes the effects of MLR stimulation was not confirmed. The results therefore do not support the hypothesis that descending pathways containing monoamines are essential for locomotion evoked by brain stem stimulation.