Abstract
The developmental alteration in the specific activity of ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) was investigated in the brain of rats treated with 6-hydroxydopa (6-OHDOPA) at birth. The specific activity of ODC in the cerebral hemispheres, brain stem and cerebellum declined from high level on day 4 to the non-detectable level in the adult. The neonatal treatment with 6-OHDOPA (75 mg/kg, s. c., 3 days) produced the rapid increase of ODC activity in the cerebral hemispheres and the brain stem in the 4- and 5-day-old rat. An injection of 6-OHDOPA appears to affect cellular activity of catecholamine neurons and glial cells in the developing brain.
