Involvement of cholinergic nicotine-like receptors as modulators of amine turnover in various types of hypothalamic dopamine and noradrenaline nerve terminal systems and of prolactin, LH, FSH and TSH secretion in the castrated male rat

The effects of high repeated subcutaneous doses (4 X 2 mg/kg) of nicotine have been evaluated on dopamine (DA) and noradrenaline (NA) levels and turnover in the long-term castrated male rat using catecholamine (CA) fluorescence histochemistry in combination with quantitative microfluorometry. The CA turnover was evaluated by studying the decline of the CA stores following tyrosine hydroxylase inhibition using alpha-methyltyrosine methyl ester (H 44/68). In the same experiments trunk blood was collected for the determination of serum prolactin, LH, FSH and TSH levels using standard radioimmunoassay procedures. The nicotine treatment produced a significant depletion of CA stores and an increase of CA turnover in DA and NA nerve terminals of the median eminence and in peri- and paraventricular NA systems. These effects were significantly counteracted by pretreatment with mecamylamine. Nicotine significantly reduced serum prolactin and TSH levels, and after H 44/68 it also reduced LH and FSH serum levels. These actions were counteracted by mecamylamine pretreatment, except the effects on serum TSH levels after H 44/68, which were even enhanced by pretreatment with mecamylamine. Overall intraindividual correlations showed a significant correlation between reduced CA turnover in several hypothalamic areas and increased serum LH and FSH levels, increased NA turnover in the paraventricular hypothalamic nucleus and increased serum TSH levels, and reduced DA turnover in the median eminence and increased serum LH levels. It is suggested that in the castrated male rat nicotine can activate cholinergic nicotine-like receptors facilitating DA and NA turnover and release in various hypothalamic CA nerve terminal systems including those inhibiting the secretion of prolactin and LH (DA terminals in medial and lateral palisade zone, respectively) and facilitating secretion of TSH (NA terminals in the parvocellular part of the paraventricular hypothalamic nucleus).