Central adrenergic neurons in DOCA-salt hypertension.

The effects of various doses of 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) injected into the hypothalamus on DOCA-salt-induced hypertension were studied. The development of hypertension was prevented in the group treated with the highest dose of 6-OHDA, and the onset of hypertension was delayed in a dose-dependent fashion in the groups treated with the lower doses of 6-OHDA. Catecholamine histofluorescence observations showed that the cannula tips placed the drug lateral to the third ventricle. The most prominent change observed was a marked unilateral reduction in the fluorescence of the dopaminergic nerves of the caudate-putamen and in the number of cell bodies in the substantia nigra. These results suggest possible sites of central aminergic control of blood pressure.