Effects of Rotenone on the Brain Level of Dopamineand its Metabolites in Mice

The effect of injection rotenone on the brain levels of dopamine (DA) and its metabolites (DOPAC and HVA) in C57BL/6N mice was studied.The mice were given two subcutaneous injections of rotenone (10 mg/kg) at 2 h interval between injections,and were killed at 8 hr after the second injection.The brain tissue was weighed and placed in a 5 mL tube containing ice-cooled perchl-oric acid (2 mL,0.4 mol/L),homogenized for 1 min at 20 000 r/min using an Ultra Turrax and centrifuged at 16 000 g for 12 min at 4℃.The supernatant was passed through a 0.2 μm filter and either directly analyzed or frozen at -70℃ until analysis.The DA and two of its metabolites were determined by HPLC with ECD.Results showed the percentage of increasing reached 40.5% (DA),544.4% (DOPAC),and 168.2% (HVA) as compare to the control (P<0.01) after the last injection.The rotenone has been suggested a potential nueurotoxicant that induced dopaminergic neurons to release dopamine and its metabolites in the mice.