In Vivo Study on the Monoamine Compounds in Rat Nucleus Accumbens Exposed to Nicotine by Online Microdialysis Coupled with Electrochemical Detector

To investigate potential mechanism of nicotine dependence, online microdialysis sampling coupled with electrochemical detector was applied to study the contents of dopamine (DA), 3,4-dihydroxyphenyl acetic acid (DOPAC), homovanillic acid (HVA), serotonin (5-HT) and 5-hydroxylindole acetic acid (5-HIAA) in the nucleus accumbens of alive rats exposed to nicotine.Dialysates were collected every 15 min at a flow rate of 1.5 <i<μ</i<L/min and separated immediately under the gradient elution condition.After nicotine administration (1.0 mg/kg, s.c.), the release of DA and 5-HT increased significantly, and the metabolites DOPAC, HVA and 5-HIAA were raised continuously.In nicotine-dependence rats, 3.0 mg/kg nicotine injection could stimulate the equivalent release of DA, 5-HT and their metabolites.The results provide an alternative approach and data reference for studying the mechanism of nicotine dependence.