Abstract: Ventral globus pallidus-injured rats by kainic acid(10 mg) were used to derter-mine the monoamine levels in four different brain regions.In this model, a great decrease of NE con-centration was observed in both hippocampus and frontal cortex compared with nonnal contro. This result hints that a damage of noradrenergic neurons in this model has occurred. DA concentrations in the four brain zones after kainic acid injection were all reduced, but only in the frontal cortex and striatum the pronounced reductions were discovered while DA turnover rates in frontal cortex, stria-tum and meddullapons were significantly reduced. These results revealed a DA metabolic disorder occurring in these regions.However, 5-HT concentrations as well as DBH activity, expressed by ratio of NE/DA, showed no marked difference in this model. In our study it is found that the changes of monoamine levels in this model basically reflect those discovered in AD patients.

Key words: Alzheimer disease (AD), Monoamine, Kainic acid, Ventral globus pallidus