Dopamine and norepinephrine turnover in various regions of the rat brain after chronic manganese chloride administration.

Rats were treated with MnCl2 X 4H2O (1 mg/100 g/day, i.p.) for a period of 4 months. The turnover of dopamine (DA) and norepinephrine (NE) was measured in several brain regions (brain stem, hypothalamus, corpus striatum and "rest of the brain") by the decay in endogenous DA and NE after inhibition of tyrosine hydroxylase by alpha-methylparatyrosine. Monoamine oxidase (MAO) activity and manganese levels were also estimated. Manganese treatment produced a decrease in DA level and turnover in the corpus striatum but not in the rest of the brain. An increase in contents of NE was observed both in the brain stem and hypothalamus. NE turnover was found to be increased in the brain stem, decreased in the hypothalamus and unaltered in the rest of the brain. MAO activity was not significantly altered in all the brain regions studied. These results which show that chronic administration of manganese may cause regionally different changes in catecholamine turnover were discussed in relation to the accumulation of manganese in the brain regions and to other metabolic changes associated with manganese toxicity.