Pharmacological effects of melatonin treatment on both locomotor activity and brain serotonin release in rats

The effects of intraperitoneal administration of pharmacological doses of melatonin (60 mg/kg) on both locomotor activity and brain monoamine release were assessed in rats. The spontaneous levels of either horizontal motion, vertical motion, or total distance traveled were decreased following melatonin injection. On the other hand, the spontaneous levels of postural freezing increased after treatment. External heat exposure (36 degrees C) produced increases in locomotion (including horizontal motion, vertical motion, and total distance traveled) as well as decreases of postural freezing in rats. The heat-induced increases of horizontal motion and total distance traveled as well as decreases of postural freezing were attenuated by melatonin treatment. In addition, cold exposure (4 degrees C) produced increases of vertical motion as well as decreases of postural freezing. Again, the cold-induced behavioral responses were attenuated by melatonin treatment. Biochemical data revealed that the serum levels of melatonin were decreased by both heat and cold exposure in rats. Furthermore, voltammetric data revealed that intraperitoneal administration of melatonin (60 mg/kg) decreased serotonin, but not the dopamine, release in the hypothalamus, the corpus striatum or nucleus accumbens of rat brain. Neither the locomotor activity responses to thermal stress nor brain monoamine release was affected by a smaller dose of melatonin (30 mg/kg, i.p.). The results suggest that systemic administration of melatonin, at pharmacological doses, inhibits brain serotonin release and results in a reduction in both the spontaneous locomotion and the thermal stress-induced locomotor activity responses in rats.