Mechanisms of norepinephrine accumulation within sites of spinal cord injury

✓ Vascularity and blood-brain barrier (BBB) function within spinal cord were studied with fluorescent microscopy at 14 intervals following 300 gm-cm injuries to the thoracolumbar spinal cord in 32 dogs. Histochemical staining with formaldehyde brought out a yellow-green fluorescence of vascular origin that was unrelated to tracer dye. This fluorescence accumulated in perivascular sites and is possibly related to catecholamine elevation within damaged spinal cord. Intrinsic CNS mechanisms for catecholamine build-up (increased transport, increased synthesis, increased release) are reviewed as well as the pharmacological action of alpha methyl tyrosine. It is hypothesized that an intrinsic CNS source of norepinephrine build-up is unlikely and that elevation of circulating catecholamine levels following stress and trauma leads to the extravasation of this material across injured BBBs within contused spinal cord.