Dopamine and Norepinephrine in Discrete Areas of the Copper‐Deficient Rat Brain1

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Abstract
Copper deficiency was induced in post‐weaning rats by feeding the dams a low copper diet during gestation and lactation. In confirmation of an earlier study, both dopamine and norepinephrine concentrations in the total brain were approximately 30% lower in deficient than in control rats. Doparnine in the corpus striaturm was depressed nearly 60%, but the concentration of norepinephrine in the hypothalamus was unchanged. Tyrosine concentrations in the striatum, hypothalamus, and total brain were not affected by copper deficiency, suggesting a catalytic defect rather than lack of substrate. Copper repletion restored norepinephrine level in total brain but did not affect the low level of dopamine. The results suggest that copper deficiency depresses a catalytic function of the adrenergic pathways and, further, adversely affects a structural component of the dopaminergic system during development.