Effect of Malnutrition and 6-Hydroxydopamine on the Early Postnatal Development of Noradrenaline and Serotonin Content in the Rat Brain

Abstract

Newborn rats were subjected to undernutrition and 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) treatment. Body and brain weight were affected more deeply during development in malnourished animals than in the 6-OHDA-treated ones. An increase in 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) concentration in the anterior and posterior brain was observed at the age of 21 days in the malnourished group, suggesting changes in amine metabolism during nerve terminal maturation in the brain. In the 6-OHDA-treated group the 5-HT brain content was unchanged at the ages studied, which does not exclude the possibility of 5-HT metabolic modifications in the absence of noradrenergic pathways during postnatal development of the rat brain.