Effect of methamphetamine on neurotensin concentrations in rat brain regions

High doses of methamphetamine (METH) induced 200 to 300% increases in the neurotensin-like immunoreactivity (NTLI) concentrations of the substantia nigra and striatum in rats after a single or multiple drug doses; smaller but significant increases of 30 to 50% were observed in the hypothalamus and hippocampus after multiple, but not single, METH administrations whereas no measurable changes were detected in the NTLI levels of the periaqueductal gray area or the amygdala. These METH-induced increases in NTLI concentrations were attenuated by coadministration of haloperidol in the substantia nigra, hypothalamus and hippocampus, indicating a possible involvement of dopamine receptors in these tissues. In the striatum haloperidol alone produced significant increases in NTLI levels; these increases were additive with those induced by METH treatment demonstrating that the neurotensin pathways associated with the striatum are regulated differently from that of the other brain areas examined. The implications of these findings to the relationship between dopamine and neurotensin transmitter systems are discussed.