Effect of pertussis toxin injected into the ventral tegmental area on amphetamine-induced Fos protein in the nucleus accumbens.
Amphetamine produces an enhanced locomotor stimulatory response in animals injected with pertussis toxin into the ventral tegmental area. This response is dependent on the activation of D1 receptors in the nucleus accumbens. The immediate early gene, c-Fos, has been used as a cellular marker for increases in dopamine neurotransmission in the nucleus accumbens. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether the administration of pertussis toxin into the ventral tegmental area results in an increased ability of amphetamine to induce Fos-positive immunoreactivity in the nucleus accumbens. Amphetamine (1 mg/kg and 2 mg/kg IP) produced a greater number of Fos-positive cells in the nucleus accumbens of pertussis toxin-treated animals as compared to vehicle-treated controls. However, the increase in Fos immunoreactivity at the higher amphetamine dose was not associated with a corresponding increase in locomotor activity. These data suggest that amphetamine produces an enhanced increase in dopamine neurotransmission in the nucleus accumbens of pertussis toxin-treated animals, resulting in an increased induction of Fos-related antigens.
Narayanan
S
S
Division of Pharmacology, College of Pharmacy, Ohio State University, Columbus 43210-1291, USA.
Dalia
A
A
Wallace
L
L
Uretsky
N
N
D000661:Amphetamine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000818:Animals; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D009714:Nucleus Accumbens / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D037342:Pertussis Toxin; D016760:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013681:Tegmentum Mesencephali / Q000187:drug effects*; D010566:Virulence Factors, Bordetella / Q000633:toxicity*
D016760:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos; D010566:Virulence Factors, Bordetella; D000661:Amphetamine; D037342:Pertussis Toxin