Possible role of brain norepinephrine in the hypothalamic hypophyseal adrenal system.

Intracisternal injection of bethanidine in rats decreased brain norepinephrine turnover without affecting its endogenous level, and increased both cardiac norepinephrine turnover and serum corticosterone level. A negative correlation was observed between brain norepinephrine turnover rate and serum corticosterone level. On the other hand, when cardiac norepinephrine turnover was suppressed by intraperitoneal injection of bethanidine, serum corticosterone did not change significantly. Next, ether inhalation was added after intracisternal injection of bethanidine. Then, serum corticosterone increased more even brain norepinephrine turnover was suppressed only slightly. These data may indicate that serum corticosterone increases by selective decrease in brain norepinephrine turnover via the humoral route; from the hypothalamus down to the adrenal cortex. Inversely, intracisternal injection of corticosterone increased brain norepinephrine turnover. These results suggest that brain norepinephrine may play an inhibitory role in the tonic regulation of CRF-ACTH secretion in the higher center than the hypothalamus and there may be a closed-loop feedback system between brain norepinephrine and serum corticosterone.