Dopamine and dopamine metabolite levels in the striatum and ventral midbrain of rat pups, 3 days after injection of levodopa and BSO
| Treatment | Striatum | Ventral Midbrain | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dopamine | DOPAC | HVA | Dopamine | DOPAC | HVA | |
| Control | 100.0 ± 4.3 | 100.0 ± 5.6 | 100.0 ± 3.1 | 100.0 ± 4.8 | 100.0 ± 11.4 | 100.0 ± 3.8 |
| BSO | 105.8 ± 5.6 | 103.4 ± 7.5 | 102.9 ± 2.8 | 82.7 ± 6.4 | 120.5 ± 14.1 | 112.7 ± 4.0 |
| Levodopa | 87.5 ± 7.2 | 95.7 ± 5.3 | 93.7 ± 4.7 | 114.5 ± 15.0 | 103.6 ± 8.8 | 109.8 ± 6.7 |
| BSO + levodopa | 88.3 ± 7.8 | 109.0 ± 9.5 | 106.5 ± 7.4 | 82.9 ± 12.8 | 108.7 ± 9.3 | 110.7 ± 5.3 |
Rats received five subcutaneous injections of 100 mg/kg levodopa, 200 mg/kg BSO, or a combination of the drugs in a volume of 10 μl/10 g body weight, twice daily, beginning on postnatal day 5. The control group was injected with the same volume of saline. Seventy-two hours after the last injection (postnatal day 11) the striatum and ventral midbrain were dissected and frozen on dry ice. PCA extracts were assayed for catecholamines with HPLC. The values are means ± S.E.M. from 10 to 12 animals per group from two independent experiments expressed as percentage of controls. Control values in the two experiments varied for dopamine from 2040 to 5260 ng/g wet weight (striatum) and 400 to 1480 ng/g wet weight (midbrain), for DOPAC from 910 to 1010 ng/g wet weight (striatum) and 210 to 300 ng/g wet weight (midbrain), and for HVA from 410 to 800 ng/g wet weight (striatum) and 210 to 410 ng/g wet weight (midbrain). Analysis of variance showed no significant differences in the values of dopamine, DOPAC, or HVA among the different groups.