Carbamazepine, phenytoin and phenobarbital do not influence brain catecholamine uptake, in vivo, in male rats.

Desipramine (10 mg/kg, i.p.), a specific blocker of noradrenaline uptake, significantly antagonized the decrease of brain noradrenaline induced by an intraventricular injection of 6-hydroxydopamine (200 micrograms in 20 microliter) in rats. The depletion of brain dopamine, in 6-hydroxydopamine plus pargyline-treated rats was counteracted by nomifensine (10 mg/kg, i.p.), a drug which has been reported to markedly inhibit dopamine uptake both in vivo and in vitro. Carbamazepine (10 mg/kg, i.p.), phenytoin (200 mg/kg, orally) and phenobarbital (20 mg/kg, orally) were unable to significantly affect either the decrease of noradrenaline or the depletion of dopamine induced by 6-hydroxydopamine. These findings seem to suggest that these anticonvulsant drugs do not inhibit brain catecholamine uptake in vivo in male rats.