Efficient measurement of endogenous neurotransmitters in small localized regions of central nervous systems in vitro with HPLC.

High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) is widely used to determine neurotransmitter concentrations in the central nervous system (CNS). Finding the optimal methods to sample from CNS tissue poses a challenge for neuroscientists. Here, we describe a method that allows assay of neurotransmitters (or other chemicals) in small regions (down to 180mum in diameter) in in vitro preparations concurrently with electrophysiological recordings. The efficiency for measuring small amounts of chemicals is enhanced by a sample collecting pipette with filter paper at the tip that makes close contact with the target region in CNS tissue. With a wire plunger in the calibrated pipette controlled by a microsyringe pump, there is virtually no dead volume. Samples in a volume of 10muL (taken, e.g., at 2muL/min over 5min) can be injected into a HPLC machine with microbore columns. We demonstrate the effectiveness of this method by measuring acetylcholine (ACh) in the ventral horn and its surrounding areas of the spinal cord in en bloc brainstem-spinal cord preparations. In control conditions, endogenous ACh levels in these regions were detectable. Application of neostigmine (an inhibitor of acetylcholinesterases (AChEs)) increased ACh concentrations, and at the same time, induced tonic/seizure-like activity in efferent motor output recorded from cervical ventral nerve roots. Higher ACh concentrations in the ventral horn were differentiated from nearby regions: the lateral and midline aspects of the ventral spinal cord. In addition, ACh in the preBötzinger Complex (preBötC) and the hypoglossal nucleus in medullary slice preparations can also be measured. Our results indicate that the method proposed in this study can be used to measure neurotransmitters in small and localized CNS regions. Correlation between changes in neurotransmitters in target regions and the neuronal activities can be revealed in vitro. Our data also suggest that there is endogenous ACh release in spinal ventral motor columns at fourth cervical (C4) level that regulates the respiratory-related motor activity.