title: Chronic L-dopa treatment in the unilateral 6-OHDA rat: evidence for behavioral sensitization and biochemical tolerance.
abstract: Two separate experiments were conducted to assess the behavioral and biochemical effects of chronic L-dihydroxyphenylalanine (L-DOPA) treatment in rats with unilateral 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) lesions. In this animal model, contralateral rotation provides the behavioral indicator response for L-DOPA activation of the dopamine denervated striatum. Following 30 daily L-DOPA treatments, a subthreshold dose (10 mg/kg) for rotation became suprathreshold and the contralateral rotation induced by a suprathreshold dose (20 mg/kg) became exaggerated. This motoric sensitization to L-DOPA was not reversed by a three-day period of L-DOPA withdrawal. In contrast with the emergence of behavioral sensitization to L-DOPA, biochemical measurements showed that the increase of dopamine metabolite concentrations (DOPAC and HVA) induced by acute L-DOPA treatment became attenuated with chronic treatment. This finding suggests that chronic L-DOPA treatment produces a partial tolerance in the conversion of L-DOPA to extracellular dopamine. The emergence of L-DOPA sensitization-over-stimulation effects was hypothesized to reflect the combined effects of dopamine receptor priming and Pavlovian drug conditioning and to contribute to the emergence of dyskinetic effects of L-DOPA therapy. The partial tolerance observed for dopamine metabolites was hypothesized to represent a decreased conversion of L-DOPA to dopamine which with long-term treatment could progress to an eventual wearing-off effect of L-DOPA therapy.
authors.affiliation: Research and Development Service, VA Medical Center, Syracuse, NY.
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Carey
mesh_terms: D015102:3,4-Dihydroxyphenylacetic Acid / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D001058:Apomorphine / Q000494:pharmacology; D002230:Carbidopa / Q000494:pharmacology; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000502:physiology*; D003714:Denervation; D004361:Drug Tolerance; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006719:Homovanillic Acid / Q000378:metabolism; D007980:Levodopa / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000187:drug effects*; D016627:Oxidopamine / Q000633:toxicity*; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D013375:Substance Withdrawal Syndrome / Q000503:physiopathology
chemical_list: D015102:3,4-Dihydroxyphenylacetic Acid; D007980:Levodopa; D016627:Oxidopamine; C035420:levodopa methyl ester; D002230:Carbidopa; D001058:Apomorphine; D006719:Homovanillic Acid