The effect of ?-melanocyte stimulating hormone (?-MSH) on the metabolism of blogenlc amines in the rat brain

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Abstract
The effect of the chronic administration of α-MSH on the incorporation of tritiated tyrosine into noradrenalin and dopamine and of tritiated tryptophan into serotonin was studied in different regions of the rat brain. α-MSH increased the incorporation of tritiated tryptophan into serotonin in the cortex and slightly decreased that of tyrosine into the dopamine in the hypothalamus. As the brain concentration of serotonin was unchanged in the animals treated with α-MSH, it is suggested that some of the changes in behavior, which other investigators have found following the administration of peptides containing the same sequence of amino acids to that found in MSH, could be associated with an increased turnover of cortical serotonin.