An increase in striatal Met-enkephalin-like immunoreactivity in neonatally dopamine-depleted rats.
A pronounced decrease in dopamine content in both the striatum and the mesolimbic area was observed up to 120 days of age after treatment with 6-hydroxydopamine (100 micrograms, intracisternally) following desipramine pretreatment (20 mg/kg, i.p.) at the 5th postnatal day. In the 6-hydroxydopamine-treated rats, Met-enkephalin-like immunoreactivity in the striatum was found to have increased at 35 and 70 days old, although it remained unchanged at 25 days old. The neonatal administration of 6-hydroxydopamine, however, did not affect the peptide content in the mesolimbic area at any age. These results indicate that the neonatal dopamine reduction changes the Met-enkephalinergic neuronal activity in the striatum at the adult age.
D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn / Q000378:metabolism; D001835:Body Weight / Q000187:drug effects; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D004298:Dopamine / Q000502:physiology*; D004744:Enkephalin, Methionine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000378:metabolism; D006892:Hydroxydopamines; D008032:Limbic System / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D016627:Oxidopamine; D011863:Radioimmunoassay; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains
D006892:Hydroxydopamines; C024693:enkephalin-Met, like substances; D004744:Enkephalin, Methionine; D016627:Oxidopamine; D004298:Dopamine