Serotonin neural adaptations to ontogenetic loss of dopamine neurons in rat brain

In rat, the neonatal destruction of nigrostriatal dopamine (DA) neurons by intracerebral administration of 6-hydroxydopamine entails dramatic changes in serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) as well as DA function. Most striking is the 5-HT hyperinnervation of the adult neostriatum, associated with increases in density of various 5-HT receptor subtypes and enhanced neuronal responsiveness to the iontophoretic application of 5-HT and its 5-HT(1B/2C) and 5-HT(2A/2C) receptor agonists, m-chlorophenylpiperazine and iododimethoxyphenylaminopropane. The topographical distribution of these changes is consistent with up-regulation and/or increased production and transport of 5-HT1B and 5-HT2A receptors by the neostriatal projection neurons, as confirmed for the 5-HT2A receptor in a recent in situ hybridization study. It is interesting that this study has also shown that increases in both 5-HT2A binding and mRNA level were abolished by chronic pretreatment with the DA agonists, apomorphine and SKF 38393, suggesting a regulatory influence of DA in the expression of this 5-HT receptor. D1 receptor binding is known to be slightly reduced in the rostral neostriatum of these rats, a down-regulation apparently imputable to a reduced rate of synthesis of the receptor. In contrast, D2 receptor binding is increased throughout the DA-denervated and 5-HT-hyperinnervated neostriatum, perhaps due to some posttranscriptional modifications. Stereotyped and motor behaviors induced by systemic treatment with D1 and D2 agonists are markedly enhanced in these rats (behavioral supersensitivity), although priming is commonly required to unmask a latent D1 supersensitivity. In the case of oral activity, however, overt behavioral supersensitivity is induced by D1 as well as D2 agonists. Moreover, there is overt supersensitivity of oral activity in response to the 5-HT receptor agonist m-chlorophenylpiperazine, which is presumably imputable to 5-HT2C receptors and may be demonstrated even in the absence of supersensitivity to D1 receptor agonist. 5-HT adaptations, therefore, seem to play a role not only in the abnormal spontaneous behavior, but also in the behavioral supersensitivity to 5-HT as well as DA receptor agonists in these rats.