Tyrosine hydroxylase activity and dopamine turnover of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) brain: The special status of the hypothalamus

The dynamics of catecholamine (CA)-synthesis enzymes have been poorly studied in fish. Tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), the rate-limiting enzyme of CA synthesis has been only studied in in vitro conditions. In the present report the in vivo CA synthesis and the CA metabolism were studied in different regions of the forebrain of the rainbow trout. Levels of norepinephrine (NE), dopamine (DA), 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC) and the rate of accumulation of 3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (DOPA) were determined by HPLC following a treatment with hydroxybenzylhydrazine (NSD), a potential inhibitor of DOPA decarboxylase. Kinetics of the accumulation of DOPA and of the decline of DOPAC were in agreement with those found in rat, evidencing that the accumulation of DOPA following NSD can be used in trout to quantify the in vivo enzymatic activity of tyrosine hydroxylase. Experiments using treatment with NSD or with methyl-p-tyrosine reached a same conclusion: the DA neuronal activity in trout is much higher than NE neuronal activity. However,the hypothalamus had high DA levels vs. low in vitro and in vivo TH activities and exhibited a low CA turnover.