LSD: effect on monoamine metabolites in rat prefrontal cortex.

Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) has been studied extensively with respect to its actions upon monoamine pathways. The central 5-hydroxytryptamine (5HT) system has been the object of the most extensive investigation (1-3), but catecholamine systems have also received substantial attention (4,5). Nearly two decades of research point to the conclusion that LSD impedes transmission in 5HT-containing neuronal systems. The concensus regarding the effects of LSD upon catecholamine systems is far less clear, and there may be regional brain differences (6). Recently, an area of rat forebrain has been identified which appears to possess some unusual properties. This region prefrontal cortex receives projections from a specific group of mesencephalic dopaminergic neurons which are selectively activated by stress (7,8), lack terminal and cell body autoreceptors (9), and respond uniquely to chronic neuroleptic administration (i0). We became interested in the effect of hallucinogenic substances upon this region and report here some preliminary results of acute and intermittent LSD administration upon homovanillic acid (HVA) and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5HIAA) in rat prefrontal cortex and striatum.