title: Pramipexole upregulates dopamine receptor D₂ and D₃ expression in rat striatum.
abstract: Randomized clinical trials have shown that pramipexole has an antidepressant effect in patients with Parkinson's disease. We investigated the comparative efficacy of pramipexole toward dopamine receptor D(2) and D(3) expression in rat brain. Groups of rats were treated subacutely with pramipexole (1 mg/kg), imipramine (10 mg/kg), or bromocriptine (5 mg/kg), with appropriate controls. Using real-time RT-PCR and immunoblotting, dopamine receptor D(2) and D(3) expression was up-regulated in the striatum following pramipexole treatment, while imipramine and bromocriptine had no significant effects. These findings support that pramipexole exerts additional therapeutic benefits such as decreasing depression by increasing dopamine receptor D(3) expression in the striatum.
authors.affiliation: Department of Therapeutic Medicine (Clinical Pharmacology and Neurology), Ehime University Graduate School of Medicine, Ehime, Japan.
authors.forename: Naohito
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tokunaga
authors.forename: Mohammed Emamussalehin
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Choudhury
authors.forename: Noriko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Nishikawa
authors.forename: Masahiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nagai
authors.forename: Tomoaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tujii
authors.forename: Hirotaka
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Iwaki
authors.forename: Mika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kaneta
authors.forename: Masahiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nomoto
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D052160:Benzothiazoles / Q000494:pharmacology*; D015153:Blotting, Western; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D018491:Dopamine Agonists / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008297:Male; D000077487:Pramipexole; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017448:Receptors, Dopamine D2 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D050637:Receptors, Dopamine D3 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D015854:Up-Regulation / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D052160:Benzothiazoles; D018491:Dopamine Agonists; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D017448:Receptors, Dopamine D2; D050637:Receptors, Dopamine D3; D000077487:Pramipexole