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Methamphetamine (METH), leading to striatal dopamine (DA) nerve terminal toxicity in mammals, is also thought to induce apoptosis of striatal neurons in rodents. We investigated the acute effects induced by multiple injections of METH (4 x 5 mg/kg, i.p.) at 2-h intervals or a single injection of METH (20 mg/kg, i.p.) on terminal dopaminergic toxicity markers, including DA levels, DA turnover, and tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) immunoreactivity in rat caudate-putamen (CPu). We further investigated whether both treatment paradigms would change Bax and activate caspase-3 expression, thus triggering striatal apoptotic mitochondria-dependent biochemical cascades. The first injection of METH (5 mg/kg, i.p.) produced a significant release of DA that peaked 30 min and stayed above control levels up to 1.5 h within CPu. In another set of experiments, rats were killed 1 and 24 h following the last injection, for tissue DA and metabolite content measurement and Western blot analysis (24 h). Multiple doses induced DA depletion and increased turnover at both endpoints. Single-dose METH reproduced these effects at 24 h; however, turnover was significantly higher than that evoked by the multiple doses at 24 h. Although both paradigms evoked similar DA depletion, however, none of the dosing regimens induced changes in TH expression at 24 h. The former paradigm produced an increase in Bax expression in CPu not sufficient to induce cleavage of caspase-3 proenzyme at 24 h. This study suggests that both paradigm induced changes in striatal dopaminergic markers that are independent of terminal degeneration and striatal apoptotic mitochondria-dependent caspase-3 driven cascade within 24 h.

Objective: It has been assumed that some behavioral changes associated with repeated exposure to dopaminergic psychostimulant drugs might be explained by changes in activity of dopamine receptors, including the dopamine D(1) receptor, which is linked by a stimulatory G protein to the effector enzyme adenylyl cyclase. To establish whether dopamine D(1) receptor function might be altered in human methamphetamine users, the authors measured dopamine-stimulated adenylyl cyclase activity in the brain of chronic human users of the drug., Method: Adenylyl cyclase activity stimulated by dopamine and by guanylyl-imidodiphosphate (to assess G protein and adenylyl cyclase coupling) was determined in the postmortem brain tissue of 16 methamphetamine users who had used the drug both recently and chronically (i.e., at least 1 year) as well as 21 matched comparison subjects., Results: A 25%-30% decrease in the maximal extent of dopamine stimulation of adenylyl cyclase activity was seen in the striatum (nucleus accumbens, caudate, and putamen) of the methamphetamine users. No changes were found in basal or guanylyl-imidodiphosphate-stimulated enzyme activity., Conclusions: These data suggest that dopamine receptor function linked to adenylyl cyclase is partially desensitized in the striatum of human methamphetamine users. Decreased dopamine D(1) receptor function might underlie part of the known (drug withdrawal syndrome) or expected (drug tolerance) consequences of methamphetamine exposure in humans.

Hypopituitary dwarf mice exhibit a heightened antioxidative capacity and live extensively longer than age-matched controls. Importantly, dwarf mice resist peripheral oxidative stress induced by paraquat, and behaviorally, they maintain cognitive function and locomotor activity at levels above those observed in old wild-type animals. We assessed monoaminergic neurotransmitters in nigrostriatal tract and cerebellum after the administration of the dopaminergic neurotoxin, MPTP. There was no significant change in mitochondrial monoamine oxidase (MAO)-B and total MAO activity in the substantia nigra and nucleus caudatus putamen of wild-type and dwarf mice. Coenzymes Q-9 and Q-10 were present in similar quantities, as were dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin levels in the cerebellum and nigrostriatal tract. MPTP set off tremor, hind limb abduction, and straub tail behavior and induced significant dopamine depletion in the striatum of both dwarf and normal mice. This study shows that the MAO activity and the coenzyme content of dwarf mice are similar to those of their wild-type controls and hence susceptible to MPTP-induced toxicity.

Neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) is normally expressed in one population of intrinsic interneurons of the striatum. Production of nitric oxide in the nNOS-containing neurons is sensitive to dopamine stimulation. Using quantitative in situ hybridization, the present study investigated the alteration in basal nNOS mRNA expression in striatal nNOS-containing neurons of mice treated with the psychostimulant amphetamine or a full D1 dopamine receptor agonist, SKF-82958. A single systemic injection of amphetamine induced a dose-related change in striatal nNOS mRNA expression. Whereas amphetamine at 4 mg/kg decreased basal levels of nNOS mRNA in both the dorsal (caudoputamen) and ventral (nucleus accumbens) striatum, the drug at a higher dose (12 mg/kg) increased nNOS expression in the two regions. Similarly, an acute systemic injection of SKF-82958 decreased and increased nNOS mRNA levels in the dorsal and ventral striatum at 2 and 4 mg/kg, respectively. These data indicate that constitutive nNOS expression in nitric oxide-producing neurons of the mouse striatum is regulated by dopaminergic transmission. Altered nNOS expression may result in changes in nitric oxide synthesis and thus contribute to biological actions of dopamine stimulants.

Following amphetamine administration, the DSIP aggravated behavioural patterns but the EEG remained unaltered in the visual and motor cortex, and in the caudate nucleus. The findings suggest that the peptides modulating action depends on the way of dopamine hyperfunction initiation.

Neurochemical analyses of post-mortem brain from cases of corticobasal degeneration are extremely rare although nearly 100 cases have been reported in the literature. We detail findings of neurotransmitter derangement in the basal ganglia of a case of neuropathologically confirmed corticobasal degeneration, who presented with dementia. The implications of severe neuronal loss in the substantia nigra and extremely low levels of dopamine and its metabolites in the striatum are considered in relation to the absence of an intrinsic extrapyramidal syndrome.

Slices of caudate nucleus from pigmented and from albino rabbits were preincubated in vitro for 24 h with different concentrations of the neurotoxic compound MPP+. Subsequently, endogenous dopamine (DA) in the slices was determined by HPLC. MPP+ (1 and 3.2 mumol/l) was more effective in diminishing DA levels in caudate nucleus slices from albino than in slices from pigmented rabbits. Following 24 h pretreatment with MPP+, the accumulation of [3H]-DA in caudate nucleus slices from pigmented rabbits was either enhanced (at 0.32 mumol/l, 1 mumol/l and 3.2 mumol/l MPP+) or reduced (at 32 mumol/l MPP+). In contrast, MPP+ did not enhance the accumulation of [3H]-DA in caudate nucleus tissue from albino rabbits and was more potent in reducing the [3H]-DA content in slices from albino than in slices from pigmented rabbits. When the selective type A monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitor clorgyline was present during pre-incubation, but not when the selective type B MAO inhibitor deprenyl was, the concentration-response curve for MPP+ with caudate nucleus slices from pigmented rabbits was similar to that obtained with slices from albino rabbits. Clorgyline and deprenyl did not change the effects of MPP+ in caudate nucleus slices from albino rabbits. These findings are compatible with the hypothesis that the MAO within dopaminergic terminals in the caudate nucleus of pigmented, but not of albino, rabbits is of type A since MAO-A is preferentially inhibited by MPP+. In line with this hypothesis, the accumulation of the preferential MAO-A substrate [3H]-5-HT in caudate nucleus slices from pigmented rabbits was about 39% lower than that in slices from albino rabbits.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

The adenylate cyclase in rat caudate nucleus homogenate could be stimulated by dopamine and less potently by the dopamine D1 receptor specific agonist SKF38393. Agonists selective for mu[D-Ala2, MePhe4Gly(ol)5]enkephalin (DAGO) and delta opioid receptors [D-Pen2, D-Pen5]enkephalin (dPen-dPen), inhibited the dopamine but not the dopamine D1 stimulated adenylate cyclase. The kappa opioid agonist, U69593, had no effect, probably due to low kappa receptor contents in rat caudate nucleus. 10(-4) M of the sigma receptor specific agonist, 1,3-di-o-tolylguanidine (DTG), potentiated the dopamine as well as the dopamine D1 stimulated adenylate cyclase while lower concentrations of DTG had no effect.

Somatostatin was incubated in an adenylate cyclase assay of a particulate fraction of caudate-putamen tissue of the rat in order to examine the effect of the peptide on D-1 receptor coupled adenylate cyclase in vitro. Somatostatin was able to enhance cyclic AMP formation in the presence of guanylylimidodiphosphate and guanosine-triphosphate. In contrast to this, somatostatin inhibited both dopamine and forskolin-stimulated cyclic AMP accumulation. Pertussis toxin and cholera toxin also depressed forskolin-induced stimulation. Somatostatin was found to antagonize these inhibitory effects of pertussis toxin and cholera toxin. The results suggest that somatostatin acts through a stimulatory as well as an inhibitory guanine nucleotide regulatory protein subtype to affect dopaminergic adenylate cyclase activity.

Repeated washing of the particulate material from rat striatum abolishes the dopamine-sensitivity of the adenylate cyclase activity. Readdition of the soluble fraction of the caudate homogenate restores the dopamine-sensitivity to the enzyme activity. Fractions, prepared with thin layer chromatography, containing endogenous GTP and GDP also restore dopamine-sensitivity to striatal adenylate cyclase activity. The effectiveness of GDP results from its conversion to GTP during the assay; when this conversion is eliminated, GDP can specifically block the coupling between the dopamine receptor and adenylate cyclase.

Dopamine (DA) sensitive adenylate cyclase activity was measured in homogenates of caudate nucleus and putamen from frozen brain of eight Parkinsonian patients and nine controls. In the control group, there was no difference in enzyme activity in respect to sex or age (21--77 years old). Caudate nucleus and putamen exhibited similar mean activity. In the Parkinsonian group, there was a significant decrease in both basal (by 50%) and DA stimulated (by 80%) activities compared with that of control group. This suggests that there may exist a functional disturbance in the postsynaptic (post-DA-nergic) region in the striatum of patients with Parkinson's disease; in addition, the decrease in basal as well as DA stimulated activity as measured in homogenates may not be the biochemical substrate for the hypothetical "denervation supersensitivity" expected to occur in Parkinson's disease.

By use of a sensitive in vitro microsuperfusion method, the cholinergic prsynaptic control of dopamine release was investigated in a prominent striosome (areas poor in acetylcholinesterase activity) located within the core of cat caudate nucleus and also in adjacent matrix area. The spontaneous release of [3H]dopamine continuously synthesized from [3H]tyrosine in the matrix area was found to be twice that in the striosomal area; the spontaneous and potassium-evoked releases of [3H]dopamine were calcium-dependent in both compartments. With 10(-6) M tetrodotoxin, 5 x 10(-5) M acetylcholine stimulated [3H]dopamine release in both striosomal and matrix areas, effects completely antagonized by atropine (10(-6) M), thus showing the involvement of muscarinic receptors located on dopaminergic nerve terminals. Experiments without tetrodotoxin revealed a more complex regulation of dopamine release in the matrix: (i) In contrast to results seen in the striosome, acetylcholine induced only a transient stimulatory effect on matrix dopamine release. (ii) Although 10(-6) M atropine completely abolished the cholinergic stimulatory effect on [3H]dopamine release in striosomal area, delayed and prolonged stimulation of [3H]dopamine release was seen with atropine in the matrix. The latter effect was completely abolished by the nicotinic antagonist pempidine (10(-5) M). Therefore, in the matrix, in addition to its direct (tetrodotoxin-insensitive) facilitatory action on [3H]dopamine release, acetylcholine exerts two indirect (tetrodotoxin-sensitive) opposing effects: an inhibition and a stimulation of [3H]dopamine release mediated by muscarinic and nicotinic receptors, respectively.

The neurotransmitter dopamine has been demonstrated by biochemical, histochemical and immunocytochemical techniques to be unevenly distributed in the mammalian central nervous system. DARPP-32 (dopamine- and cyclic-AMP-regulated phosphoprotein of molecular weight 32,000) is a neuronal phosphoprotein that displays a regional distribution in the mammalian brain very similar to that of dopamine-containing nerve terminals, being highly concentrated in the basal ganglia. The state of phosphorylation of DARPP-32 can be regulated by dopamine and by cyclic AMP in intact nerve cells, suggesting a role for this phosphoprotein in mediating certain of the effects of dopamine on dopaminoceptive cells. The observation that many of the physical and chemical properties of purified DARPP-32 resemble those of phosphatase inhibitor-1 (inhibitor-1), a widely distributed inhibitor of protein phosphatase-1, suggests that DARPP-32 might also function as a phosphatase inhibitor. We report here that DARPP-32 inhibits protein phosphatase-1 at nanomolar concentrations. Moreover, like inhibitor-1, DARPP-32 is effective as an inhibitor in its phosphorylated but not its dephosphorylated form. Thus, the basal ganglia of mammalian brain contain a region-specific neuronal phosphoprotein that is a protein phosphatase inhibitor.

The distribution of muscarinic cholinergic binding sites in the striatum was studied in relation to the locations of other neurochemical markers in the developing rat, cat, ferret, and human. In addition, patterns of striatal muscarinic binding were studied in the adult cat. Receptor binding autoradiography was carried out with tritiated propylbenzilylcholine mustard [( 3H]-PrBCM), an irreversible muscarinic antagonist, and subsequent serial section analyses involved comparisons among patterns of muscarinic binding, catecholamine histofluorescence, acetylcholinesterase (AChE) staining, Nissl staining, and cell labeling with [3H]-thymidine. Muscarinic binding in the immature striatum was characterized by local patchiness as well as regional density gradients in all species, with the most complex patterns appearing in the human. Patches of dense muscarinic binding were shown to lie in register with fluorescent dopamine islands (rat, cat, ferret), with AChE-positive patches (all species), and with clusters of neurons pulse-labeled by exposure to [3H]-thymidine on embryonic day 27 (ferret). At the developmental stages examined, the [3H]-PrBCM-positive patches were roughly aligned with regions of weak Nissl staining (cat, human). Striatal [3H]-PrBCM binding in the adult cat was dense, and though it usually appeared nearly homogeneous, in some sections patches of elevated binding were present. These had as counterparts, in neighboring sections, AChE-poor striosomes. We conclude that during development muscarinic cholinergic function is compartmentalized in the striatum in association with dopamine-containing afferents, and that this compartmentalization may persist to some degree in the adult.

The dopamine, dopac and tyrosinehydroxylase contents of the caudate nucleus in the prosimian Perodicticus potto and in the simii Macaca mulatta and M. fascicularis have been estimated. The results do not support the hypothesis according to which the sluggishness of the potto is somehow related to a low dopamine content of part of the extrapyramidal system as found in the Parkinson-syndrome.

The effect of somatostatin-14 (SRIF) on dopamine-sensitive adenylate cyclase in caudate-putamen pellets was studied in naive female rats, and in rats with chemical lesions of the nigrostriatal dopaminergic tract produced by injection of 6-hydroxydopamine, or of the caudate-putamen itself produced by injection of kainic acid 3 week earlier. In unlesioned rats somatostatin at a concentration of 10(-7) moles/l inhibited adenylate cyclase activation by submaximal concentrations of dopamine, increasing the apparent Km but not altering Emax. In 6-hydroxydopamine lesioned rats somatostatin no longer influenced adenylate cyclase activity, whereas in kainic acid lesioned rats somatostatin still increased the apparent Km for dopamine activation. The effect of somatostatin in untreated and lesioned rats is compatible with a partial competitive antagonism to dopamine. Although the data from the lesioned rats present preliminary results, the dose response characteristics and the effects in lesioned animals suggest a more complex interaction, possibly by binding of somatostatin to an inhibitory subunit of regulatory adenylate cyclase components.

In vivo voltammetry has been used to measure the release of dopamine evoked by electrical stimulation of the medial forebrain bundle (MFB). Simultaneous measurements have been made with voltammetric-sensing electrodes ipsilateral to the stimulating electrode in the nucleus accumbens and the caudate nucleus of the anesthetized rat. During the stimulation, the species observed in both regions is voltammetrically identical to dopamine. Further evidence for the identity of dopamine is provided by anatomical, physiological, pharmacological, and postmortem data. Postmortem analysis of these brain regions after a single stimulation demonstrates that dopamine levels are unchanged, while dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC) levels are increased in both regions. Systemic application of synthesis inhibitors results in a decrease in evoked release for each brain region. Amfonelic acid results in a restoration of stimulated release after synthesis inhibition. Evoked release is affected differently by pargyline in the two brain regions. The evoked release of dopamine is significantly elevated in the nucleus accumbens as a result of pargyline administration, but similar effects are not seen in the caudate nucleus. Tissue levels of dopamine are increased in both brain regions by pargyline, but the increase is significantly greater in the accumbens. Electrolytic lesions of the striatonigral pathway or systemic administration of picrotoxin eliminates the pargyline-induced difference in evoked release of dopamine. Amphetamine causes a reduction in stimulated release in the caudate nucleus with little effect on that observed in the nucleus accumbens.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Unilateral radiofrequency lesions or chemical lesions with 6-hydroxydopamine were produced in the substantia nigra of rat brain in order to destroy dopaminergic innervations to caudate nucleus and thereby to produce functional denervation supersensitivity. Both types of lesions resulted in enhanced stimulation of caudate adenylate cyclase (EC 4.6.1.1) activity by dopamine at all dopamine concentrations tested, with more marked enhancement at the lower concentrations. Response to another dopamine agonist, 1-(3,4-dihydroxybenzyl)-4-(20pyrimidinyl) piperazine (S584) was also enhanced. 6-Hydroxydopamine lesions resulted in selective enhancement of the dopamine-stimulated component of adenylate cyclase, whereas radiofrequency lesions resulted also in a marked decrease in basal activity. It is postulated that the basal activity of caudate represents primarily an adenylate cyclase distinct from that stimulated by dopamine and destroyed only by the less selective radiofrequency lesion. The enhancement of dopamine-sensitive adenylate cyclase after lesions serves as indirect evidence for a significant role of this system in the transmitter function of dopamine and indicates, furthermore, that it is directly involved in dopamine receptor supersensitivity in vivo produced by denervation.

The effect of five phosphodiesterase (PDE) inhibitors (papaverine, IBMX, theophyllamine, dipyridamol and M & B 22,948) was studied on adenylate cyclase and on cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase activities in extracts of rat caudate nucleus. For comparison the effect on DA turnover and on turning behaviour in rats with unilateral lesions of the nigro-neostriatal DA nerurons was studied. Cyclic AMP PDE was inhibited by papaverine, dipyridamol, IBMX, M & B 22,948 and theophyllamine in that order of potency. Cylcic GMP PDE was inhibited by IBMX, papaverine, M & B 22,948 and theophyllamine, but not by dipyridamol. Basal adenylate cyclase washigher if assayed in the presence of papaverine or dipyridamol than if theophyllamine or IBMX was present. The degree of stimulation caused by DA was not significantly influenced by the PDE inhibitors. Papaverine and dipyridamol enhanced DA disappearance in the caudate nucleus and the tuberculum accumbens, but not in the median eminence. Caffeine had no significant effect. Papaverine (1-28 mg/kg) had no signigicant effect on L-dopa (5 mg/kg)-induced turning, and actually inhibited turning induced by the combination of L-dopa (10 mg/kg) and atropine (5 mg/kg). The other four PDE inhibitors all potentiated L-dopa-induced turning. Theophyllamine (20 mg/kg) and IBMX (5 mg/kg) even caused turning when given alone. The data are compatible with the opinion that PDE inhibition leads to an enhanced effect of DA in the caudate nucleus. However, the results also demonstrate that several of the PDE inhibitors have effects on central DA mechanisms that are difficult to explain solely on the basis of PED inhibition.

Dopamine-sensitive adenylate cyclase was reconstituted from the cholate-soluble components of caudate nucleus homogenate. Biological function was restored by precipitating the components from cholate and phospholipid with ammonium sulfate, dialyzing the resuspended precipitate, and activating the particulate complex with phospholipid in the assay. The reconstituted adenylate cyclase was stimulated 3- to 4-fold by dopamine and 8- to 12-fold by guanyl-5'-yl imidodiphosphate. The catecholamine stimulation was specific for dopamine and required the addition of GTP. The cholate-soluble component(s) of the basal adenylate cyclase were separated from the component(s) that conferred dopamine sensitivity by gel filtration chromatography. Dopamine-sensitive adenylate cyclase was also reconstituted from digitonin-soluble components. These were resolved into two fractions by DEAE-cellulose chromatography: one fraction contained adenylate cyclase, but both fractions were required for reconstitution of dopamine-sensitive adenylate cyclase.

The distribution of dopamine-containing processes in the striatum of fetal and neonatal cats was studied by immunohistochemical and glyoxylic acid histofluorescence methods and compared to the distribution of acetylcholinesterase (acetylcholine acetylhydrolase, EC 3.1.1.7) observed by thiocholine histochemistry in the same or serially adjoining sections. Both methods for demonstrating the dopamine innervation revealed the characteristic patchwork of dopamine "islands" in the caudoputamen, in which catecholamine histofluorescence or tyrosine hydroxylase [tyrosine 3-monooxygenase; L-tyrosine, tetrahydropteridine:oxygen oxidoreductase (3-hydroxylating), EC 1.14.16.2]-like immunoreactivity was concentrated into 0.2- to 0.6-mm-wide patches. Both methods also demonstrated a high degree of patterning of the dopamine innervation in the ventral striatum, including the nucleus accumbens septi. A detailed and striking match was found between these configurations and the compartmental distribution of acetylcholinesterase observed in the caudoputamen and ventral striatum of the same brains. The correspondence between the dopamine and acetylcholinesterase figures was most obvious in the fetal brains, in which the background acetylcholinesterase staining was lightest, but matches between the dopamine islands and acetylcholinesterase patches could still be seen in the kittens. There was no clear alignment of striatal cell bodies stained for acetylcholinesterase with either the dopamine or the acetylcholinesterase-positive patches. Nor was there an obvious correspondence between dopamine and acetylcholinesterase in the striatal background matrix. We conclude that, at least during ontogenesis, it is the clustered arrangements of dopamine and acetylcholinesterase that are, in particular, tightly linked, and we suggest that information about the maturation of these clusters may be crucial in assessing the functions of striatal dopamine and acetylcholinesterase in the adult.

Dopamine and somatostatin-14 (SRIF) were incubated with a membrane fraction of rat caudate-putamen (CP) tissue in an adenylate cyclase assay in order to examine the D-1-receptor coupled adenylate cyclase activity 5 days and 3 weeks after unilateral ablation of the left frontal and lateral cortex. Five days after decortication the ipsilateral basal and dopamine stimulated adenylate cyclase activity was increased by about 30% compared to that of the contralateral side. Three weeks after decortication no significant difference could be seen. On either side basal and dopamine stimulated adenylate cyclase activity was not significantly decreased compared to sham operated controls. Somatostatin (10(-7) mol/l) reduced basal adenylate cyclase activity of the ipsilateral CP five days following lesioning and reduced the maximal stimulation induced by dopamine. The effects of somatostatin were most marked in the absence and at low concentrations of dopamine (10(-7)-10(-6) mol/l). The effects of somatostatin in the lesioned CP were no longer apparent three weeks following surgery. These results do not favour a presynaptic localization of D-1-receptors on cortico-striate projection fibers and suggest that somatostatin is involved in the interaction of the cortico-striate and nigro-striatal projection systems and may play a role in the regulation of D-1-receptor linked adenylate cyclase.

Striatal adenylyl cyclase activity from autopsied human brain is selectively stimulated by low concentrations of dopamine. Under the experimental conditions used, norepinephrine was about three times less potent than dopamine. Histamine and serotonin were ineffective. The stimulation by dopamine was competitively inhibited by haloperidol. There was no difference between the basal adenylyl cyclase activity or its level after dopamine stimulation between nine control subjects without a psychiatric history and seven patients with chronic schizophrenia.

Chronic administration of methamphetamine (20 mg/kg, IP, every 12 hours for 10 days) produced a large decrease in tyrosine hydroxylase staining axons and terminal boutons in the caudate nucleus in rats when examined 60 days following the final methamphetamine injection. This effect was quantitated using the Leitz Data Acquisition and Display System (DADS) revealing that there was a 74% decrease in tyrosine hydroxylase positive processes in the caudate nucleus. Furthermore, this treatment also produced a large decrease in the number of tyrosine hydroxylase positive staining neuronal perikarya in the pars compacta of the substantia nigra. This effect was also quantitative using the Leitz-(DADS) system, revealing a decrease of 89% in tyrosine hydroxylase positive material. These data demonstrate that chronic administration of methamphetamine produces a long-term loss of tyrosine hydroxylase enzyme in both the cell bodies of the substantia nigra and the nerve terminals in the caudate nucleus. Whether this effect is due to the degeneration of the neurons or some metabolic effect remains to be determined.

Activating (0.3-3 microM) or inhibitory (0.03-0.3 mM) effects of dopamine (DA) in the absence of Ca2+, and its inhibitory effect in the presence of Ca2+ on Na,K-ATPase activity of synaptosomes from the caudate nucleus of the rat brain were confirmed. Na,K-ATPase was shown to be inhibited by 6 neuroleptics, with the degree of inhibition stronger in the presence of Ca2+. It was found that: 1) the biphasic or monophasic nature of DA action on Na,K-ATPase activity was preserved in the presence of neuroleptics, 2) DA enhances the inhibitory effects of neuroleptics on the enzyme, 3) the inhibitory effects of DA on Na,K-ATPase are enhanced by Ca2+ ions. The mechanisms of the modifying action of DA on synaptosomal Na,K-ATPase are discussed.

N-2,2,2,-Trifluoroethyl-2-(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl)ethylamine was synthesized and compared to N-ethyl-2-(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl)-ethylamine and dopamine for activity on adenylate cyclase in the rat striatum. Both dopamine and N-ethyl-2-(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl)ethylamine stimulated adenylate cyclase activity in a dose-dependent fashion. The N-trifluoroethyldopamine analog at 1 x 10(-4) M induced a weak effect. The compounds were evaluated further by studying their relaxant effects in isolated rabbit renal and ear arteries. Both the N-ethyl- and N-trifluoroethyldopamine analogs produced a relaxant effect but demonstrated no selectivity for dopamine receptors.

The influence of D-lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and mescaline on adenylate cyclase activity was studied in homogenates of Cebus and rhesus monkey anterior limbic cortex (ALC), frontal cortex (FC), caudate nucleus and retina. Previous studies have shown these tissues to contain dopamine-stimulated adenylate cyclase (AC). In addition, we are now reporting the presence of a dopamine-sensitive adenylate cyclase in the auditory cortex. AC of ALC and auditory cortex was stimulated by LSD and mescaline, whereas activity of FC, caudate nucleus and retina was not stimulated by the same agents. In contrast to regional specificity for stimulation, LSD was capable of antagonizing dopamine-stimulated activity in all brain regions examined. LSD and mescaline produced similar maximal stimulation (about 70%) of AC of ALC homogenates, but the EC50 for LSD (0.43 micrometer) was about one-tenth that for mescaline (4.5 micrometer). Similar relative potencies were also observed for the auditory cortex enzyme. Although much weaker than LSD, methamphetamine also produced a dose-dependent stimulation of ALC AC. Both agonist and antagonist effects of the hallucinogens appear to involve interaction with dopamine receptors; LSD- or methamphetamine-stimulated activity in ALC was blocked by haloperidol and fluphenazine, which are dopamine antagonists, but not by phentolamine, an alpha-receptor blocker. Antagonism of dopamine by LSD in both ALC and FC was found to be competitive and mescaline was an effective but weaker antagonist than was LSD. In addition, neither histamine--nor Gpp(NH)p--stimulated activity of FC was inhibited by LSD. It is proposed that the occurrence of dopamine agonistic action of hallucinogens in only certain regions of primate brain may provide a basis for at least some of the behavioral effects of LSD, mescaline and methamphetamine in primates.

The effects of biogenic amines on adenylate cyclase from rhesus monkey brain have been surveyed. Dopamine-responsive cyclase activity was found throughout the subcortical limbic area and limbic cortex, as well as in the sensorimotor cortex, where stimulation by dopamine was blocked by fluphenazine. Cyclase activity from caudate nucleus in rat and rhesus monkey was very similar in relative responsiveness to stimulation by dopamine and norepinephrine. Some response of the enzyme from cingulate and sensorimotor cortex to isoproterenol was observed. The inhibition by fluphenazine of dopamine-responsive cyclase activity from sensorimotor cortex raises the possibility of a cerebrocortical locus of action for antipsychotic agents.