Electrophysiological and behavioral assessments of dopamine autoreceptor activation to apomorphine in rats

Single neuronal activity was recorded extracellularly in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNC) in rats anesthetized with chloral hydrate. Haloperidol in a dose of 10 micrograms/kg had no significant effects on the SNC neurons. R(-)apomorphine (cumulative i.v. dose of 40 micrograms/kg, given as: 5, 5, 10 and 20 micrograms/kg) inhibited the firing rate of dopaminergic neurons, in a dose-dependent manner. Haloperidol (cumulative i.v. dose of 10 micrograms/kg, as: 2.5, 2.5 and 5 micrograms/kg) reversed the effect of apomorphine. Complete reversal of the firing rate to haloperidol was observed with a dose of 10 micrograms/kg. In rats pretreated with 10 micrograms/kg of haloperidol, there was a dramatic shift to the right of the apomorphine dose-response curve (cumulative i.v. dose of 800 micrograms/kg, as: 50, 50, 100, 200 and 400 micrograms/kg), and this inhibition was reversed by haloperidol (cumulative i.v. dose of 400 micrograms/kg, as: 50, 50, 100 and 200 micrograms/kg). Apomorphine in doses of 40 micrograms/kg and 800 micrograms/kg elicited yawning behavior and stereotypy, respectively. Apomorphine in a dose of 800 micrograms/kg elicited stereotypy in rats treated 3 min before with 10 micrograms/kg of haloperidol. Therefore, electrophysiological determinations of events in the SNC dopaminergic neurons are given support by the behavior observed in these rats.