Brain research
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Fluorescence immunohistochemistry was used to analyze the medulla oblongata of colchicine-treated rats that had been incubated with guinea pig antibodies to serotonin (5-HT) and either rabbit or sheep antibodies to glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD). Numerous cells in the rostral ventrolateral medulla in the region of nucleus raphe magnus were immunostained for either 5-HT or GAD. ⋯ In addition, a number of the 5-HT/GAD-containing neurons were retrogradely labelled with Fast blue dye that had been injected into the thoracic spinal cord. This work provides evidence for colocalization of the classical neurotransmitters 5-HT and GABA in single cells of the ventral medulla oblongata, some of which project to the spinal cord.