Influence of individual housing in the adult rats on catecholamine synthesis and storage in the right and left medial prefrontal cortex

Abstract

Social isolation produce various neurochemical alterations in monoamines pathways of the brain. In order to assess the effect of individual housing of adult rats on neurochemical substrates and lateralization in the right and left medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), we measured dopamine and noradrenaline stores, protein levels of tyrosine-hydroxylase (TH), noradrenaline transporter (NET) and vesicular monoamine transporter 2 (VMAT 2), by Western blot analysis. Individual housing produced no significant changes in dopamine and noradrenaline content, whereas levels of TH and NET were elevated in the right and left mPFC. On the other hand, VMAT 2 protein was reduced in the right mPFC and increased in the left mPFC. The results indicate an increased synthetic and reuptake capacity of noradrenergic terminals in the right and left mPFC and decreased translocation monoamines from the cytoplasm into the intracellular storage vesicles of neurons in the right mPFC.