Release of endogenous catecholamines from the striatum and bed nucleus of stria terminalis evoked by potassium and N-methyl-D-aspartate: in vitro microdialysis studies.

Induced release of endogenous dopamine and noradrenaline from coronal slices containing the striatum and the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, respectively, was studied by means of in vitro microdialysis. A Ca(+2)-dependent and reserpine-sensitive K(+)-induced release of catecholamines was detected in both nuclei. We confirmed that N-methyl-D-aspartate (2.5 and 5.0 mM in the dialysis perfusion solution) induces the release of dopamine from the striatum, and this effect was blocked by prior dialysis perfusion with 500 microM MK-801, a noncompetitive N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonist. Infusion of N-methyl-D-aspartate (1-10 mM) or glutamate through the dialysis probe did not produce any detectable modification in the extracellular levels of noradrenaline in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis. In addition, perfusion with D-serine (100 microM) alone or in the presence of desipramine (10 microM), resulted in a slight increase in extracellular noradrenaline in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis. However, N-methyl-D-aspartate in the presence of D-serine and desipramine produced a marked increase in extracellular noradrenaline from the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis. These results indicate that N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors might regulate the release of noradrenaline from the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis as is the case of dopamine release in the striatum. The in vitro microdialysis seems to be a suitable complement to the in vivo microdialysis for the study of catecholamine release in discrete regions of the central nervous system and its local regulation by excitatory amino acid receptors.