Effect of desipramine and amphetamine on noradrenergic neurotransmission: electrophysiological studies in the rat brain.

The present electrophysiological experiments were undertaken to investigate the effect of desipramine and d-amphetamine on noradrenergic neurotransmission in the rat central nervous system. The effectiveness of electrical stimulation of the locus coeruleus and of microiontophoretic application of norepinephrine (NE) in suppressing the firing activity of CA3 pyramidal neurons was studied in the dorsal hippocampus. Desipramine (0.5 and 5 mg/kg i.v.) and d-amphetamine (0.25 and 5 mg/kg i.v.) decreased the effectiveness of locus coeruleus stimulation and prolonged the effect of microiontophoretically applied NE on the same pyramidal neurons. Subsequent i.v. administration of idazoxan, an alpha 2-adrenoceptor antagonist, reversed the effects of desipramine and d-amphetamine on the effectiveness of locus coeruleus stimulation and decreased that of microiontophoretically applied NE. In addition, idazoxan prevented the effect of subsequent administration of desipramine (5 mg/kg i.v.) on the effectiveness of locus coeruleus stimulation. High doses of d-amphetamine (5 and 10 mg/kg i.v.) decreased the firing activity of hippocampus pyramidal neurons by 70 and 98%, respectively, whereas low doses of desipramine (0.5 mg/kg i.v.) or of d-amphetamine (0.25 mg/kg i.v.) were without effect. After lesioning of NE projections with 6-hydroxydopamine, the effect of the 5 mg/kg dose of d-amphetamine on the firing activity of hippocampus pyramidal neurons was markedly reduced, whereas the cumulative 10 mg/kg dose of d-amphetamine completely suppressed, as in control rats, the firing activity of these neurons. This effect of d-amphetamine in 6-hydroxydopamine-pretreated rats was reversed by the administration of the 5-HT1A receptor antagonist BMY 7378. These data provide evidence that acute administration of desipramine and d-amphetamine decreases the effectiveness of locus coeruleus stimulation by increasing the activation of terminal alpha 2-adrenoceptor autoreceptors. In addition, acute administration of high doses of d-amphetamine decreases the firing rate of hippocampus pyramidal neurons by increasing NE and serotonin release.