Korean J Anat.  2001 Feb;34(1):33-40.

The effect of treatment with tryptophan and/or reserpine on the serotonergic immunoreactivity in raphe nucleus of medulla oblongata and midbrain of the rats

• Kim MS
• Lee CH

Abstract

The present study was carried out to investigate the effect of treatment with tryptophan and/or reserpine on the raphe of medulla oblongata and mid brain of the rats (180~200 g body weight). the animal were injected i.p. with reserpine (5 mg/kg) for 3 days and tryptophan (15 mg/kg) for 20 days. The results by immunohistochemical methods were as follows: 1. Serotonin-immunoreactive neurons in the raphe of medulla oblongata and mid brain decrease in reserpine treated group compared to all the other group. 2. Serotonin-immunoreactive neurons in the raphe of medulla oblongata and mid brain were increased in tryptophan -reserpine treated group compared to the reserpine treated group but not the tryptophan treated group. 3. Serotonin-immunoreactive neurons in the raphe of medulla oblongata and mid brain were inceased in tryptophan treated group compared to all the other group. The experiments indicated that serotonin immunoreactive neurons in medulla oblongata and mid brain increased due to the activation of tryptophan and decreased by suppressing activation of tryptophan through reserpine.

Keyword

tryptophan; reserpine; medulla oblongata; midbrain; raphe nucleus; serotonin

MeSH Terms

Animals
Brain
Medulla Oblongata*
Mesencephalon*
Neurons
Raphe Nuclei*
Rats*
Reserpine*
Serotonin
Tryptophan*
Reserpine
Serotonin
Tryptophan