Hypothalamic Catecholamines and Adrenergic Innervation of Hypothalamic Blood Vessels. Potential Role in Shock

Previous studies by a number of investigators have established that the hypothalamus contains the highest concentration of norepinephrine (NE) among all regions of the brain (3,4,12,13,14, 24,26). This appears to be true of all species that have been studied. Results from our own studies in a number of laboratory species are shown in Table 1. We have also made extensive studies on the distribution of NE in various regions of the brain in the cat and squirrel monkey. These results are summarized in Table 2 and indicate that there are no striking differences in this respect between the feline and primate. The results obtained in the cat agree with previous findings (3, 18). Of all the tissues examined (Table 2) the hypothalamus had the highest concentration of norepinephrine (NE).