Electroconvulsive shock decreases beta-adrenoceptors despite serotonin lesions

Abstract

We have measured the effect of electroconvulsive shock (ECS) on high- and low-affinity [3H]dihydroalprenolol binding in cerebral cortex of control rats and rats with lesions of serotonin neurons. Eleven days of treatment with ECS (once daily) resulted in a decrease in the number of beta-adrenoceptor binding sites for which isoproterenol has high-affinity. Following lesions with 5,7-dihydroxytryptamine, ECS still resulted in a decrease in these receptors. Hence, ECS does not require intact serotonin neurons to decrease the number of high-affinity beta-adrenoceptors.