Effect of kynurenic acid on catecholamine content in the brain of rats with different susceptibility to seizures

• Published in: Fiziolohichnyi zhurnal (Kiev, Ukraine : 1994) Vol. 48; no. 6; pp. 41 - 45
• Main Author: Popova, L D
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Ukrainian
• Published: Ukraine 2002
• Subjects: Animals; Brain - drug effects; Brain - metabolism; Brain Chemistry - drug effects; Catecholamines - metabolism; Disease Susceptibility - metabolism; Kynurenic Acid - pharmacology; Rats; Rats, Wistar; Seizures - metabolism; Tyrosine - metabolism
• ISSN: 2522-9028

The influence of kynurenic acid on the catecholamine contents in brain of rats with different seizure susceptibility was studied. In animals with high seizure susceptibility the decrease in norepinephrine content and the increase in the coefficient ratio between dopamine and norepinephrine have been found in the most of the regions investigated. Kynurenic acid caused considerable changes in the contents of catecholamines and their precursor in the brain of both groups of animals. The influence of kynurenate on the norepinephrine content was especially significant. The results of a comparison of the absolute contents of catecholamines, as wel las the ratio between the contents of a precursor and the transmitter and the levels of the transmitter in the appropriate nervous terminals are the base to suggest that kynurenic acid enhances the conversion of tyrosine into dopamine, increases its transport to nervous terminals, and decreases the noradrenergic transmission.