Behavioral and pharmacological effects of centrally administered aminooxyacetic acid in rats

In the present experiment unilateral intrastriatal injections of aminooxyacetic acid (1, 2.5, 5 mumol) to freely moving animals and pentobarbital-anesthetized rats produced contralateral jerks and dose-dependent mortality, but no barrel rotation. At 10-12 days there were no significant differences in exploratory activity, passive avoidance behavior, and elevated plus-maze test in aminooxyacetic acid-treated animals as compared with controls. However freely moving animals microinjected with aminooxyacetic acid (but not the pentobarbital-pretreated group) had impaired learning activity in an active avoidance conditioning test, and showed reduced striatal concentrations of substance P and GABA. Intrastriatal injections of aminooxyacetic acid therefore result in both acute and chronic behavioral changes which are attenuated by pentobarbital anesthesia.