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Comparative effects of infusions of 6-hydroxydopamine into nucleus accumbens and anterolateral hypothalamus induced by 6-hydroxydopamine on the response to dopamine agonists, body weight, locomotor activity and measures of exploration in the rat.

Groups of rats received infusions of 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) into the nucleus accumbens or anterolateral hypothalamus with 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA), or sham operations. Body weight was monitored for 28 days after the infusion, after which rats were first tested in an exploration choice-box and then underwent a series of pharmacological challenges. At this time after the operation, rats which had received 6-OHDA in the nucleus accumbens showed neither loss of body weight, deficit in exploration, nor hypokinesia, but sustained an 80% reduction in dopamine levels in the nucleus accumbens. Locomotion was decreased in response to 1.5 mg/kg (i.p.) of d-amphetamine but increased following 0.1 mg/kg (s.c.) of apomorphine; stereotyped responses to larger doses were unaltered. By contrast, rats which had received 6-OHDA in the anterolateral hypothalamus lesions lost substantial amounts of body weight and were hypoactive. Although both locomotor and stereotypy responses to d-amphetamine were abolished, these responses were enhanced in response to apomorphine. Consistent with this, regional assay using high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) showed profound loss of dopamine in the caudate-putamen as well as in the nucleus accumbens and frontal cortex. It seems unlikely that the reductions in exploration previously reported after lesions of the mesolimbicocortical dopamine system at the level of anterolateral hypothalamus induced by 6-OHDA are either behaviourally specific or result solely from depletion of dopamine with the nucleus accumbens and frontal cortex.

Animals↗

Effects of 5-hydroxydopamine and 6-hydroxydopamine on the ultrastructure of type I cells in paraganglia of the rat recurrent laryngeal nerve.

The ultrastructure of the Type I cells in paraganglia of rat recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) was studied after the administration of 5-hydroxydopamine (5-OHDA) and 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA). Normal Type I cells of RLN-paraganglia contained abundant organelles and their cytoplasm was characterized by the presence of numerous membrane-bounded dense-cored vesicles (DCVs). The DCVs were round in profile (diameter 107.67 +/- 0.06 nm, all values expressed as mean +/- s.e.m. in the present study) and possessed dense cores of moderate to low electron density. After 5-OHDA treatment (single injection, 100 mg/kg b.w., i.v.), the majority of DCVs were filled with a material of high electron density. No significant difference was observed between the profile diameter of the DCVs in 5-OHDA-treated rats (104.96 +/- 0.06 nm) and that in normal rats. After 6-OHDA treatment (three injections, 100 mg/kg b.w. each at 12 h intervals i.p.), no significant alteration in the electron density of the core was noted. However, most of the DCVs were enlarged and round, elliptical or irregular in profile (190.57 +/- 2.77 nm x 130.34 +/- 2.09 nm). The dense core of DCVs was centrally or eccentrically located in DCVs. The results of the present study indicate that: 1) there is only one type of granulated glomus cell (i.e., Type I cells) in the rat RLN-paraganglia under normal physiological condition; and 2) since the ultrastructural morphology of DCVs in Type I cells of rat RLN-paraganglia is altered after 5-OHDA or 6-OHDA treatment, these cells may possess mechanisms for the uptake of false adrenergic neurotransmitter and/or neurotoxin.

Animals↗

Motor stimulant effects of the adenosine A(2A) receptor antagonist SCH 58261 do not develop tolerance after repeated treatments in 6-hydroxydopamine-lesioned rats.

Several evidences indicate that the selective blockade of adenosine A(2A) receptors counteracts the motor activity impairment in experimental models of Parkinson's disease. In the present study, the effects of the adenosine A(2A) receptor antagonist, SCH 58261 (5-amino-7-(beta-phenylethyl)-2-(8-furyl)pyrazolo(4,3-e)-1,2,4-triazolo(1,5-c)pyrimidine, were assessed following a repeated treatment schedule in the contralateral turning behavior rat model of Parkinson's disease. Unilateral lesions of the nigrostriatal pathway were induced by injecting 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) in medial forebrain bundle. Repeated administration of SCH 58261 was performed either alone (7 and 14 days repeated SCH 58261) or together with L-dopa (19 days repeated SCH 58261 plus L-dopa or L-dopa alone). After a 7- and 14-day repeated administration schedule, SCH 58261 (5 mg/kg) maintained its ability to potentiate the contralateral turning behavior induced by a subthreshold dose of L-dopa (2 mg/kg i.p.), showing no tolerance to its stimulant effects. SCH 58261 (5 mg/kg) plus L-dopa (3 mg/kg) or L-dopa (6 mg/kg) alone induced, at these dosages, the same number of contralateral turnings after the first administration. While chronic intermittent SCH 58261 plus L-dopa did not lead to a modified turning behavior during treatment, L-dopa alone produced a progressive increase in turning behavior intensity and duration. These results provide evidence that SCH 58261 retains its ability to potentiate L-dopa effects in a validated rat model of Parkinson's disease even after repeated treatments. Moreover, these results suggest that adenosine A(2A) blockade prevents the appearance of motor response alterations in L-dopa-treated rats, supporting the concept that A(2A) receptor antagonists have a therapeutic potential for the treatment of Parkinson's disease. Copyright 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Journal Article↗

Neuroprotective effect of citicoline in 6-hydroxydopamine-lesioned rats and in 6-hydroxydopamine-treated SH-SY5Y human neuroblastoma cells.

Citicoline (CDP-choline or cytidine 5'-diphosphocholine) has been used as a therapeutic agent in combination with levodopa in the treatment of Parkinson's disease (PD). The present study examines the effects of citicoline by using validated in vivo and in vitro models. Citicoline reduces the cytotoxic effect of 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA)-treated human dopaminergic SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells as measured cellular redox activity with 3-[4.5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2.5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) and increases the levels of reduced glutathione (GSH), a major antioxidant agent. Moreover, citicoline (500 mg/kg i.p.) administered for 7 days ameliorates functional behaviour by significantly reducing the number of apomorphine-induced contralateral rotations in 6-OHDA rats. Finally, citicoline significantly attenuates substantia nigra (SN) dopaminergic cell dropout and tyrosine hydroxylase immunoreactivity in the ipsilateral striatum in rats injected intrastriatally with 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA).

Animals↗

Modification of different morphine actions by 6-hydroxydopamine and 6-hydroxydopamine plus desmethylimipramine.

After intracisternal 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) in mice, brain noradrenaline (NA) and dopamine (DA) are diminished, although the reduction of NA is more pronounced. Intracisternal injection of 6-OHDA in desmethylimipramine (DMI)-pretreated animals strengthens the depletion of DA while NA is partly protected. The concentration of 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) is not influenced by 6-OHDA or 6-OHDA + DMI. Chronic morphine treatment to some extent enhances reduced NA and DA levels after 6-OHDA, but the decreased central catecholamine (CA) content after 6-OHDA + DMI is not raised. Morphine analgesia is highly attenuated in 6-OHDA and 6-OHDA + DMI mice. The reduction occurs in non-tolerant as well as in tolerant animals. The acute effect of morphine on body temperature is abolished with 6-OHDA, but not with 6-OHDA + DMI, whereas the interaction of central CA in morphine-induced running shows distinctly marked reduction with 6-OHDA + DMI, but not with 6-OHDA. Acute toxicity is enhanced by 6-OHDA + DMI whereas the development of tolerance against the toxicity of morphine is diminished by 6-OHDA. Lack of CA in the brain decreases sensitivity against naloxone withdrawal in acute as well as in chronic experiments.

Analgesia↗

Studies on the mechanisms of 6-hydroxydopamine cytotoxicity.

The uptake-accumulation and binding of radioactivity in mouse heart after administration of the catecholamine neurotoxin [3H]6-hydroxydopamine (6-OH-DA, 1 or 3 mg/kg, i.v.) has been investigated. It was confirmed that a substantial portion (8--20%) of the radioactivity taken up and retained by the heart could not be extracted with perchloric acid, in all probability representing covalently bound oxidation products of 6-OH-DA to tissue proteins. Pharmacological analysis showed that a large part of this fraction was associated with the adrenergic nerves. The time-course of the perchloric acid resistant binding to the adrenergic nerves was found to parallel that of the neurotoxic action of 6-hydroxydopamine as evaluated by monitoring the change in [3H]noradrenaline uptake. Calculation of the intranelronal 6-hydroxydopamine concentration (average) needed to induce degeneration showed it to be in the order of 50 mM. The binding ratio for tritium deriving from [3H]6-OH-DA between the intraneuronal and extraneuronal compartments was found to be 10,000 to 30,000, pointing to a very high neuronal specificity for 6-hydroxydopamine. The 'covalent' binding of oxidation products of [3H]6-OH-DA was considerably reduced after desipramine or 1-phenyl-3(2-thiazolyl)-2-thiourea administration, treatments both known to protect the adrenergic nerves from undergoing degeneration. Conversely it was found that the binding increased during conditions known to potentiate the neurotoxic action of 6-hydroxydopamine, e.g., after monoamine oxidase inhibition with nialamide. Subcellular fractionation studies indicated that the predominant site of interaction between 6-hydroxydopamine oxidation products and neuronal proteins is the cytoplasm and the axonal membrane. Analysis of the effect in vivo administration of 6-hydroxydopamine on the field-stimulated induced release of [3H]noradrenaline previously taken up in the adrenergic nerves showed a 6-hydroxydopamine indiced reduction in [3H]noradrenaline release which was approximately proportional to the reduction in the number of nerve terminals. These findings further support the view that 6-hydroxydopamine acts largely in an "all-or-none' fashion with respect to the neurodegenerative action. Administration of [3H]dopamine also resulted in a fraction which was not extractable with perchloric acid, although this fraction was very small compared to that found after an equal dose of [3H]6-hydroxydopamine. These data may indicate that oxidation products of dopamine can interact with tissue proteins. From the present results it can be concluded that there is a close relationship between 'covalent' binding of 6-hydroxydopamine oxidation products to neuronal elements and the cytotoxic action of 6-hydroxydopamine, indicating that this binding may play an important role in the neurodegenerative action of 6-hydroxydopamine on catecholamine neurons.

Adrenergic Fibers↗

6-hydroxydopamine-induced apoptosis is mediated via extracellular auto-oxidation and caspase 3-dependent activation of protein kinase Cdelta.

6-Hydroxydopamine is a neurotoxin commonly used to lesion dopaminergic pathways and generate experimental models for Parkinson disease, however, the cellular mechanism of 6-hydroxydopamine-induced neurodegeneration is not well defined. In this study we have explored how 6-hydroxydopamine neurotoxicity is initiated. We have also investigated downstream signaling pathways activated in response to 6-hydroxydopamine, using a neuronal-like, catecholaminergic cell line (PC12 cells) as an in vitro model system. We have shown that 6-hydroxydopamine neurotoxicity is initiated via extracellular auto-oxidation and the induction of oxidative stress from the oxidative products generated. Neurotoxicity is completely attenuated by preincubation with catalase, suggesting that hydrogen peroxide, at least in part, evokes neuronal cell death in this model. 6-Hydroxydopamine does not initiate toxicity by dopamine transporter-mediated uptake into PC12 cells, because both GBR-12909 and nisoxetine (inhibitors of dopamine and noradrenaline transporters, respectively) failed to reduce toxicity. 6-Hydroxydopamine has previously been shown to induce both apoptotic and necrotic cell-death mechanisms. In this study oxidative stress initiated by 6-hydroxydopamine caused mitochondrial dysfunction, activation of caspases 3/7, nuclear fragmentation, and apoptosis. We have shown that, in this model, proteolytic activation of the proapoptotic protein kinase Cdelta (PKCdelta) is a key mediator of 6-hydroxydopamine-induced cell death. 6-Hydroxydopamine induces caspase 3-dependent cleavage of full-length PKCdelta (79 kDa) to yield a catalytic fragment (41 kDa). Inhibition of PKCdelta (with rottlerin or via RNA interference-mediated gene suppression) ameliorates the neurotoxicity evoked by 6-hydroxydopamine, implicating this kinase in 6-hydroxydopamine-induced neurotoxicity and Parkinsonian neurodegeneration.

Acetophenones↗

Motor stimulant effects of caffeine in 6-hydroxydopamine-lesioned rats are dependent on previous stimulation of dopamine receptors: a different role of D1 and D2 receptors.

Caffeine has been reported to induce contralateral rotational behaviour in rats bearing a unilateral 6-hydroxydopamine lesion of the dopaminergic nigrostriatal pathway. In order to define the role of dopamine receptors in the mediation of this behaviour, we have evaluated the influence of previous exposure to a dopamine receptor agonist and the importance of the time elapsed from the 6-hydroxydopamine lesion on the rotational behaviour induced by caffeine. Separate groups of rats lesioned with 6-hydroxydopamine 2 weeks previously were exposed to four administrations of the D1/D2 receptor agonist apomorphine (0.3 mg/kg s.c.) (primed) or vehicle (drug-naive). Three days later, all rats received caffeine (30 mg/kg s.c.). Drug-naive 6-hydroxydopamine-lesioned rats did not rotate in response to caffeine, while rats primed with apomorphine rotate contralaterally in response to caffeine. When apomorphine priming was paired to the same environment (hemispherical bowls) where rats received caffeine, rotational behaviour was significantly higher than that obtained in rats primed in an unpaired environment (cylinders). Repeated priming with the D2/D3 receptor agonist quinpirole (0.2 mg/kg s.c.) induced a totally context-dependent contralateral rotation in response to caffeine, while caffeine contralateral rotation was not dependent from the context after repeated priming with the D1 agonist SKF 38393 [1-phenyl-2,3,4,5-tetrahydro-(1 H)-3-benzazepine-7,8-diol hydrochloride, 3 mg/kg s.c.]. Caffeine-mediated contralateral rotation was also evaluated in rats lesioned with 6-hydroxydopamine 12 weeks previously and exposed to four administrations of apomorphine or vehicle. As for rats repeatedly exposed to vehicle or apomorphine 2 weeks after 6-hydroxydopamine lesioning, caffeine failed to induce contralateral rotation in drug-naive rats, while it did induce a partially context-dependent contralateral rotation in apomorphine-primed rats. Different from rats receiving apomorphine priming 2 weeks after 6-hydroxydopamine lesioning, in 12 week-lesioned rats, caffeine also induced contralateral rotation after one priming with apomorphine (0.3 mg/kg s.c.), a condition which fails to induce context-dependent rotation. Administration of selective antagonists of A1 (8-cyclopentyl-1,3-dipropylxanthine), (DPCPX) or A2A (5-amino-2-(2-furyl)-7-(3-phenylpropyl)-pyrazolo[4,3-e]-1 ,2,4-triazolo[5c]pirimidine), (SCH 58261) adenosine receptors failed to induce contralateral rotation either alone or in combination in 12 week-6-hydroxydopamine-lesioned rats repeatedly primed with apomorphine. All together, the results indicate that: (i) caffeine does not induce any contralateral rotation in drug-naive 6-hydroxydopamine-lesioned rats; (ii) priming with a dopamine agonist enables caffeine to induce contralateral rotation, this rotation is, however, context independent only after priming with a selective D1 agonist; (iii) contralateral rotation in response to caffeine is dependent on the time from the 6-hydroxydopamine lesion; (iv) blockade of A1 and A2A adenosine receptors with selective antagonists does not induce contralateral rotational behaviour in 6-hydroxydopamine-lesioned rats.

Animals↗

In vitro effect of 6-hydroxydopamine on isolated rat atria.

In vitro treatment with 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA), but not with oxidized 6-hydroxydopamine, caused transient, positive inotropic and chronotropic responses in the isolated rat atria. In the presence of rat blood plasma, the excitatory effect of 6-hydroxydopamine persisted unless the drug was washed out by fresh medium. 6-Hydroxydopamine failed to elicit the excitative response in the atria obtained from reserpinized rats or rats treated with 6-hydroxydopamine in vivo. In vitro treatment with 6-hydroxydopamine did not cause the development of supersensitivity to noradrenaline. Cocaine and desipramine, but not bretylium, inhibited the excitative action of 6-hydroxydopamine. No tachyphylaxis developed after repeated exposure to 6-hydroxydopamine in vitro. Propranolol, but not phentolamine, blocked the excitatory effect of 6-hydroxydopamine. It is thus concluded that in vitro treatment with 6-hydroxydopamine may cause atrial stimulation by an indirect action involving the release of catecholamines as a result of its displacement at the nerve ending.

Animals↗

Time-dependent striatal dopamine depletion after injection of 6-hydroxydopamine in the rat. Comparison of single bilateral and double bilateral lesions.

For future investigation of possible perturbation of circadian rhythm in animal models of Parkinson's disease we needed an animal model providing lasting 80-100% striatal dopaminergic depletion in rats, but without induced mortality. We have thus compared the effects of a single hydroxydopamine bilateral striatal lesion (SB-hydroxydopamine) with those of a double hydroxydopamine bilateral lesion (DB-hydroxydopamine) at the same dose (16 microg/striatum) by HPLC determination of dopamine and 3,4-dihydrophenylacetic acid (dopac) levels in the striatum. Two weeks after neurosurgery, SB-hydroxydopamine and DB-hydroxydopamine induced dopaminergic depletion of at least 81% compared with control groups. After eight weeks striatal dopaminergic depletion was only 60.97% in SB-hydroxydopamine rats, suggesting a compensatory phenomenon, whereas in DB-hydroxydopamine rats dopaminergic loss was stable at 88%. For the DB-hydroxydopamine group the dopac/dopamine ratio was significantly increased at week 2 only, whereas no significant change was observed for other groups. This increase might be explained by increased dopamine turnover. We have demonstrated that striatal DB-hydroxydopamine injection induces lasting 80-100% neuronal loss, close to that observed in the disease in man, without induced mortality, and provides a tool which meets our experimental requirements.

3,4-Dihydroxyphenylacetic Acid↗

Enhanced tolerance of neuroblastoma cells towards the neurotoxin 6-hydroxydopamine following specific cell-cell interaction with primary astrocytes.

Dopamine neuroblastoma (SH-SY5Y) cells exhibit a high affinity of adhesion for primary astroglial cells. The homophilic aggregation of SH-SY5Y cells is greatly reduced and the neuroprocesses are enhanced when co-cultured with the astrocytes. However, such affinity was not detected in the mouse when these cells were co-cultured with fibroblast and endothelial cells. SH-SY5Y cells in monoculture are very sensitive towards the neurotoxin 6-hydroxydopamine, but this sensitivity is substantially reduced in co-culture with astrocytes. The acquired cytoprotection of the neuroblastoma cells in co-culture against 6-hydroxydopamine is time dependent following adhesion with the astrocytes. There is no evidence to indicate that the increase in survival of the SH-SY5Y cells against 6-hydroxydopamine is due to inactivation of 6-hydroxydopamine induced by the extracellular factors secreted from the astrocytes, neither is there any indication suggesting the removal of 6-hydroxydopamine by an astrocyte uptake mechanism. The release of trophic factors by the astrocytes does not seem to play a role in the protection of the neuroblastoma cells against 6-hydroxydopamine. The neuroblastoma cells became susceptible to 6-hydroxydopamine in the astrocyte co-cultures when they were physically separated from the astroglial cells by trans-well inserts. Neither non-selective adhesions, such as adhesion with denatured astrocytes or with other types of cells (i.e. endothelial or fibroblast cells), nor adhesion enhanced by chemical agents can increase the cytoprotection of SH-SY5Y against 6-hydroxydopamine. These results suggest that the increase in survival of neuroblastoma cells against 6-hydroxydopamine in the astrocyte co-cultures is probably a result of specific cell-cell adhesion and the subsequent interactions.

Animals↗

Control of hindlimb vascular resistance in rats chronically sympathectomized with 6-hydroxydopamine.

1. Vascular resistance was measured after acute surgical denervation in the blood-perfused hind limbs of adult normal rats and rats which had been treated with 6-hydroxydopamine in the first 2 weeks of postnatal life. Vascular resistance was significantly higher in the limbs of 6-hydroxydopamine treated rats. 2. No excess of vasoconstrictor materials was detected when blood from 6-hydroxydopamine treated rats was used to perfuse the hind limbs of untreated rats or other 6-hydroxydopamine treated rats. 3. Hind limb blood vessels of 6-hydroxydopamine treated rats showed increased sensitivity to normal amounts of circulating vasoconstrictors of adrenal origin and to intra-arterial infusions of noradrenaline and angiotensin. 4. Infusion of desipramine into the hindlimb blood vessels of 6-hydroxydopamine treated rats did not increase vasoconstrictor responses to infused noradrenaline. Infusion of desipramine into the limbs of untreated rats increased responses to noradrenaline but these never attained the magnitude and duration of responses seen in limbs of 6-hydroxydopamine treated rats. 5. The increased sensitivity to noradrenaline of hindlimb vessels from 6-hydroxydopamine treated rats could partly be accounted for by an absence of neuronal uptake sites and partly by the development of non-specific post-junctional supersensitivity.

Angiotensin II↗

Studies on the formation of 6-hydroxydopamine in mouse brain after administration of 2,4,5-trihydroxyphenylalanine (6-hydroxyDOPA).

2,4,5-Trihydroxyphenylalanine (6-OH-DOPA) destroys central and peripheral noradrenergic neurons, while sparing dopaminergic neurons. Previous studies indicate that 6-OH-DOPA toxicity is mediated by the formation of 6-hydroxydopamine. However, levels of 6-hydroxydopamine in brain following peripheral administration of 6-OH-DOPA have not been documented. In the current study, 6-OH-DOPA and 6-hydroxydopamine were measured in brain by HPLC with electrochemical detection after intraperitoneal injection of 6-OH-DOPA. When mice were injected with 100 mg 6-OH-DOPA/kg, 6-hydroxydopamine levels in the striatum were highest (1.9 microgram/g) at 15 min and fell slowly to 24% of the peak value at 4 h. Experiments with reserpine indicated that the relatively stability of 6-hydroxydopamine was largely dependent upon storage in synaptic vesicles. Reserpine (10 mg/kg) lowered striatal 6-hydroxydopamine levels to 21.6% of control (non-reserpine-treated) values at 1 h, and to 8.9% of control values at 4 h. Levels of 6-hydroxydopamine in the striatum at 1 h were increased 113% by pargyline (100 mg/kg), 145% by alpha-methyldopahydrazine (carbidopa; 25 mg/kg), and 261% by pargyline and carbidopa together. Levels of dopamine in the striatum were unchanged at 2.5 h after 200 mg 6-OH-DOPA/kg (with pargyline and 50 mg carbidopa/kg), whereas levels of norepinephrine in the frontal cortex fell by 77%. At the same time, 6-hydroxydopamine levels were 8.8-fold higher in the striatum (5.54 micrograms/g) than in the cortex (0.63 micrograms/g).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗

Effects on renal sympathetic axons in dog of acute 6-hydroxydopamine treatment in combination with selective neuronal uptake inhibitors.

1. In anaesthetized dogs, we have investigated the effect on renal responses to sympathetic nerve stimulation of acute treatment with the catecholaminergic neurotoxin 6-hydroxydopamine (2 mg kg-1 i.v.), administered alone or after blockade of neuronal catecholamine uptake pathways for noradrenaline (NA) or dopamine with desmethylimipramine or benztropine, respectively. 2. Under control conditions, renal nerve stimulation caused renal vasoconstriction, reduced glomerular filtration and sodium and water excretion and caused net efflux of NA and dopamine into the renal venous plasma. Two h after administration of 6-hydroxydopamine alone, there was abolition of both functional responses and catecholamine efflux during nerve stimulation. 3. In animals pretreated with desmethylimipramine (1 mg kg-1), 6-hydroxydopamine had no significant effect on functional responses to renal nerve stimulation and nerve-evoked efflux of NA was only moderately reduced. Efflux of dopamine was still markedly reduced by 6-hydroxydopamine, but more variably than occurred without desmethylimipramine treatment. 4. In animals pretreated with benztropine (0.2 mg kg-1), nerve-evoked efflux of dopamine, but not that of NA, was protected against reduction by 6-hydroxydopamine. A higher dose of benztropine (1 mg kg-1) protected efflux of both NA and dopamine against 6-hydroxydopamine. 5. We conclude that acute treatment with a low dose of 6-hydroxydopamine is an effective method of inactivating peripheral sympathetic nerves. The differential effects of desmethylimipramine and benztropine in preserving nerve-evoked efflux of NA and dopamine after 6-hydroxydopamine support the view that these catecholamines originate predominantly from different intrarenal axons. However, neither uptake blocker appears to be completely specific in its actions.

Animals↗

Evidence that 6-hydroxydopamine is an inhibitor of catechol-O-methyltransferase in intact tissue.

The effect of in-vitro sympathetic denervation on the O-methylation of 2-hydroxyoestradiol was examined using the rabbit thoracic aorta. Aortic segments were exposed to 6-hydroxydopamine (400 mg litre-1, 10 min), incubated in 2-hydroxyoestradiol (5 microM, 60 min), and the 2-methoxyoestradiol formed was quantified using HPLC with electrochemical detection. Pre-exposure to 6-hydroxydopamine reduced O-methylation by 90% in intact aortic strips. However, O-methylation was also reduced (81%) in rabbit aorta that had been surgically denervated before exposure to 6-hydroxydopamine. Furthermore, the O-methylation of 2-hydroxyoestradiol (20 microM, 15 min) by partially purified soluble catechol-O-methyltransferase was inhibited by 6-hydroxydopamine (400 mg litre-1) by 95% and 51% in the absence and presence of antioxidant, respectively. These results suggest that the inhibition of catechol-O-methyltransferase by 6-hydroxydopamine reported for the purified enzyme, applies to the intact tissue and that the inhibition is dependent on oxidation of the 6-hydroxydopamine. Subsequent experiments using dialysis techniques demonstrated that the inhibition of soluble catechol-O-methyltransferase by 6-hydroxydopamine was irreversible in part, but the degree of irreversibility was influenced by pH and by the extent of in-vitro oxidation of 6-hydroxydopamine.

Animals↗

Chronic continuous infusion of (-)nicotine reduces basic fibroblast growth factor messenger RNA levels in the ventral midbrain of the intact but not of the 6-hydroxydopamine-lesioned rat.

A negative correlation has been found between smoking and Parkinson's disease. There is evidence to suggest that this correlation appears to be associated with a neuroprotective role of nicotine for dopamine neurons at least in relation to mechanical injury. However, 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6,-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) neurotoxicity to dopamine neurons is enhanced by chronic continuous (-)nicotine. More recently, basic fibroblast growth factor has been found to possess neurotrophic activities for many nerve cells including the dopamine cells in vivo and in vitro. Therefore, it is of interest to explore a possible effect of nicotine on basic fibroblast growth factor expression in the ventral midbrain of intact and 6-hydroxydopamine-lesioned rats and how treatment with nicotine can alter the 6-hydroxydopamine-induced injury of the nigral dopamine nerve cells as evaluated by dopamine biochemistry. In the present paper, an analysis of the effects of chronic continuous infusion of (-)nicotine via minipumps was carried out on basic fibroblast growth factor expression in the vental midbrain of the intact male rat and of the 6-hydroxydopamine lesioned rat. A quantitative messenger RNA protection assay analysis was used as well as an immunocytochemical analysis in the substantia nigra. Our findings give evidence that a two-week continuous infusion with (-)nicotine in the intact rat leads to substantial and dose-related (0.03-0.3 mg/kg per h) reductions of basic fibroblast growth factor messenger RNA levels in the ventral midbrain. These changes are not associated with changes in neuronal and glial basic fibroblast growth factor immunoreactivity in this region with the antibodies used. However, a one-week continuous infusion with (-)nicotine (0.125 mg/kg per h) failed to significantly alter the basic fibroblast growth factor messenger RNA levels in the ventral midbrain of solvent and 6-hydroxydopamine-injected rats and thus also the 6-hydroxydopamine-induced increase of basic fibroblast growth factor messenger RNA levels in the ventral midbrain of the lesioned side observed at this time-interval and known to be of astroglial origin [Chadi G. et al. (1994) Neuroscience 61, 891-910]. In agreement, the 6-hydroxydopamine-induced depletion of dopamine in the neostriatum was unaltered by the nicotine treatment (0.125 mg/kg per h). Thus, chronic continuous (-)nicotine treatment may lead to a reduced basic fibroblast growth factor trophic tone in the ventral midbrain of the intact but not of the 6-hydroxydopamine-lesioned rat neither on the lesioned nor on the unlesioned side of the ventral midbrain. It seems possible that chronic nicotine treatment mainly reduces basic fibroblast growth factor messenger RNA levels of neuronal origin, since the astroglial messenger RNA levels dominate after the 6-hydroxydopamine-induced lesions.

Animals↗