NORADRENERGIC LESIONING WITH AN ANTI-DOPAMINE BETA-HYDROXYLASE IMMUNOTOXIN

Sympathectomy has been achieved by a variety of methods but each has i ts limitations. These include lack of tissue specificity, incomplete l esioning, and the age range of susceptibility to the lesioning. To cir cumvent these drawbacks, an immunotoxin was constructed using a monocl onal antibody against the noradrenergic specific enzyme dopamine beta- hydroxylase (DPH) coupled via a disulfide bond to saporin, a ribosomal inactivating protein. Three days after intravenous injection of the a nti-D beta H immunotoxin (50 mu g) into adult Sprague-Dawley rats, 66% of neurons in the superior cervical ganglia were chromatolytic. Super ior cervical ganglia neurons were poisoned in 1 day old and 1 week old (86% of neurons) neonatal rats following subcutaneous injection of 3. 75 and 15 mu g, respectively. The anti-D beta H immunotoxin will be a useful tool in the study of the peripheral noradrenergic system in adu lt and neonatal animals.