title: Long-term pinealectomy alters hypothalamic serotonin metabolism in the rat.
abstract: In the present study, the effects of long-term pinealectomy on tryptophan, 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT or serotonin), 5-hydroxy-3-indoleacetic acid (5-HIAA), and tryptophan hydroxylase and monoamine oxidase activities were studied in preoptic area-anterior hypothalamus (POA-AH) and in the medial and posterior hypothalamus of the rat. After pinealectomy, 5-HT levels decreased significantly in medial hypothalamus but increased in the POA-AH. The levels of 5-HIAA decreased significantly in the POA-AH and medial hypothalamus. Tryptophan levels remained unchanged while tryptophan hydroxylase activity diminished significantly in POA-AH and medial hypothalamus. Monoamine oxidase activity remained unchanged in the hypothalamic regions. These results suggest that pinealectomy induces differential inhibitory actions on the serotoninergic terminal regions, mainly in anterior and medial hypothalamic areas.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Fisiología Animal, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Spain.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Míguez
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Martín
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Míguez
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Aldegunde
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D005470:Fluorometry; D006897:Hydroxyindoleacetic Acid / Q000378:metabolism; D007031:Hypothalamus / Q000378:metabolism*; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008995:Monoamine Oxidase / Q000378:metabolism; D010870:Pineal Gland / Q000601:surgery*; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D012701:Serotonin / Q000378:metabolism*; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D014364:Tryptophan / Q000378:metabolism; D014365:Tryptophan Hydroxylase
chemical_list: D012701:Serotonin; D006897:Hydroxyindoleacetic Acid; D014364:Tryptophan; D014365:Tryptophan Hydroxylase; D008995:Monoamine Oxidase