Neurons and endocrine cells have two types of secretory vesicle that undergo regulated exocytosis. Large dense core vesicles (LDCVs) store neural peptides whereas small clear synaptic vesicles store classical neurotransmitters such as acetylcholine, gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), glycine, and glutamate. However, monoamines differ from other classical transmitters and have been reported to appe...

BACKGROUND Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) has been associated with altered cognitive, motor, and social-emotional outcomes in human infants. We recently reported that rats with chronic perinatal IDA, had altered regional brain iron, monoamines, and sensorimotor skill emergence during early development. OBJECTIVE To examine the long-term consequences of chronic perinatal IDA on behavior, brain i...

Monoamines and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) levels were measured in a genetic animal model for childhood depression in four subcortical structures: nucleus accumbens (Nac), ventral tegmental area (VTA), amygdala and hypothalamus. The "depressive-like" strain was the Flinders Sensitive Line (FSL), compared to their controls, Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats. Prepubertal FSL rats showed abnormal levels ...

Guillingji powder, a complex prescription of traditional Chinese medicines, has been pharmacologically shown to be a possible anti-aging agent, and also used for the treatment of male hypogonadism and female dysgenesis. Since the levels of numerous brain monoamines and their metabolites such as norepinephrine (NE), dopamine (DA), dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC), homovanillic acid (HVA), sero...

We have created a transgenic mouse with a hypomorphic allele of the vesicular monoamine transporter 2 (Vmat2) gene by gene targeting. These mice (KA1) have profound changes in monoamine metabolism and function and survive into adulthood. Specifically, these animals express very low levels of VMAT2, an endogenous protein which sequesters monoamines intracellularly into vesicles, a process that, ...

The uterus is innervated by adrenergic sympathetic fibres, and the endometrium has a capability for endogenous monoamine synthesis. Extracellular monoamine levels are regulated primarily through re-uptake by specific membrane-bound transporter proteins dopamine transporter (DAT), norepinephrine transporter (NET) and serotonin transporter (SERT). Intracellular storage of monoamines involves vesi...

A large body of evidence has implicated monoamine neurotransmitters in a range of behavioral phenomena including mood. Reserpine depletes monoamines and induces a syndrome resembling depression (Frize 1954), giving rise to the monoamine hypothesis of affective disorders. In addition, many drugs used to treat depression act by inhibiting the reuptake of norepinephrine and serotonin from the syna...

In the 1950s, the monoamines 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) (Woolley & Shaw, 1954), noradrenaline (NA) (Vogt, 1954), and dopamine (DA) (Carlsson, 1958) were identified in the brain. After this discovery, it was identified that the tricyclic compound imipramine and the antituberculosis drug iproniazid were effective in the treatment of clinical depression, and that these drugs can increase the extra...