Effect of pentylenetetrazol on carbaryl-induced changes in striatal catecholamines

Administration of pentylenetetrazol (PTZ) (60 mg/kg, s.c.) to normal or carbaryl (200 mg/kg, p.o.) treated adult male albino rats produced characteristic changes in the steady-state levels of striatal dopamine (DA), noradrenaline (NA) and homovanillic acid (HVA) at different time intervals (0.5, 1.0 and 2.0 hr). The elevation of striatal NA level was found to be more pronounced with PTZ than that produced by carbaryl. Treatment of rats with PTZ alone caused a significant elevation of DA levels only at 2.0 hr without any significant change in the level of HVA at any time interval. Carbaryl which did not have any significant effect on striatal DA level produced an elevation of HVA at 0.5 hr and 1.0 hr in striatum. The simultaneous administration of PTZ and carbaryl, under similar conditions, caused a marked reduction in the level of NA at 0.5 hr and DA at 1.0 hr without any significant effect on (i) both the amine levels at 2.0 hr and (ii) HVA level at any of the time intervals. Measurement of (a) alpha-methyl-p-tyrosine (alpha-MpT) (250 mg/kg, i.p.) induced depletion of striatal DA and NA, (b) FLA-63 (25 mg/kg, i.p.) induced disappearance of NA, (c) pargyline (75 mg/kg, i.p.) induced reduction and probenecid (200 mg/kg, i.p.) induced accumulation of striatal HVA in the presence or absence of PTZ and/or carbaryl revealed that: (1) PTZ or carbaryl alone caused a significant increase in the turnover of striatal DA; (2) the turnover of striatal NA was significantly increased after PTZ treatment but not after carbaryl administration; (3) the simultaneous administration of carbaryl and PTZ, on the other hand, attenuated (a) PTZ- or carbaryl-induced increase in metabolic activity of the striatal dopaminergic system, and (b) the enhanced anabolic activity of striatal noradrenergic system caused by PTZ, but failed to affect the enhanced utilization of striatal NA induced by PTZ alone.