Dopamine and endocannabinoids are neurotransmitters known to play a role in the activity of the basal ganglia motor circuit. While a number of studies have demonstrated functional interactions between type 1 cannabinoid (CB1) receptors and dopaminergic systems, we still lack detailed neuroanatomical evidence to explain their relationship. Single- and double-labeling methods (in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry) were employed to determine both the expression and localization of CB1 receptors and tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) in the basal ganglia. In the striatum, we found an intense signal for CB1 receptor transcripts but low signal for CB1 receptor protein, whereas in the globus pallidus and substantia nigra we found the opposite; no hybridization signal but intense immunoreactivity. Consequently, CB1 receptors are synthesized in the striatum and mostly transported to its target areas. No co-expression or co-localization of CB1 receptors and TH was found. In the caudate-putamen, globus pallidus and substantia nigra, TH-immunoreactive fibers were interwoven with the CB1 receptor-immunoreactive neuropil and fibers. Our data suggest that the majority of the striatal CB1 receptors are located presynaptically on inhibitory GABAergic terminals, in a position to modulate neurotransmitter release and influence the activity of substantia nigra dopaminergic neurons. In turn, afferent dopaminergic fibers from the substantia nigra innervate CB1 receptor-expressing striatal neurons that are known to also express dopamine receptors. In conclusion, these data provide a neuroanatomical basis to explain functional interactions between endocannabinoid and dopaminergic systems in the basal ganglia.

To investigate the role of A(2A) adenosine receptors in adaptive responses to chronic intermittent dopamine receptor stimulation, we compared the behavioral sensitization elicited by repeated l-DOPA treatment in hemiparkinsonian wild-type (WT) and A(2A) adenosine receptor knock-out (A(2A) KO) mice. Although the unilateral nigrostriatal lesion produced by intrastriatal injection of 6-hydroxydopamine was indistinguishable between WT and A(2A) KO mice, they developed strikingly different patterns of behavioral sensitization after daily treatment with low doses of l-DOPA for 3 weeks. WT mice initially displayed modest contralateral rotational responses and then developed progressively greater responses that reached a maximum within 1 week and persisted for the duration of the treatment. In contrast, any rotational behavioral sensitization in A(2A) KO mice was transient and completely reversed within 2 weeks. Similarly, the time to reach the peak rotation was progressively shortened in WT mice but remained unchanged in A(2A) KO mice. Furthermore, daily l-DOPA treatment produced gradually sensitized grooming in WT mice but failed to induce any sensitized grooming in A(2A) KO mice. Finally, repeated l-DOPA treatment reversed the 6-OHDA-induced reduction of striatal dynorphin mRNA in WT but not A(2A) KO mice, raising the possibility that the A(2A) receptor may contribute to l-DOPA-induced behavioral sensitization by facilitating adaptations within the dynorphin-expressing striatonigral pathway. Together these results demonstrate that the A(2A) receptor plays a critical role in the development and particularly the persistence of behavioral sensitization to repeated l-DOPA treatment. Furthermore, they raise the possibility that the maladaptive dyskinetic responses to chronic l-DOPA treatment in Parkinson's disease may be attenuated by A(2A) receptor inactivation.

Two important aspects of striatal function, exploratory behaviour and motor co-ordination, require the integrity of the dopamine D-4 receptor subtype. These receptors are also implicated in the pathophysiology of certain neuropsychiatric disorders. However, the distribution of D-4 receptors in the striatum has not yet been described and this situation impairs our understanding of the anatomical substrate in which D-4 receptors function. We developed a D-4 receptor-specific antibody that has permitted us to investigate the regional and cellular localization of the receptor in the neostriatum of the rat, mouse, cat and monkey. The subcellular distribution and the synaptic organization of this receptor were also determined in the rat striatum. We found moderate levels of D-4 receptor expression in the caudoputamen and lower levels in the nucleus accumbens. These receptors were expressed in cell bodies and in the neuropil and were heterogeneously distributed among different striatal compartments, being more abundant in striosomes than in the matrix. At the subcellular level, the receptor immunoreactivity was mainly localized to dendritic shafts and spines. The prominent immunoreactivity observed in the striosomes indicates that integrative processes involved in D-4-mediated limbic behaviours occurs through the striosomes rather than accumbens, whereas the motor behaviour is based in the striatal matrix.

The A(2A)R is largely coexpressed with D(2)Rs and enkephalin mRNA in the striatum where it modulates dopaminergic activity. Activation of the A(2A)R antagonizes D(2)R-mediated behavioral and neurochemical effects in the basal ganglia through a mechanism that may involve direct A(2A)R-D(2)R interaction. However, whether the D(2)R is required for the A(2A)R to exert its neural function is an open question. In this study, we examined the role of D(2)Rs in A(2A)R-induced behavioral and cellular responses, by using genetic knockout (KO) models (mice deficient in A(2A)Rs or D(2)Rs or both). Behavioral analysis shows that the A(2A)R agonist 2-4-(2-carboxyethyl)phenethylamino-5'-N-ethylcarboxamidoadenosine reduced spontaneous as well as amphetamine-induced locomotion in both D(2) KO and wild-type mice. Conversely, the nonselective adenosine antagonist caffeine and the A(2A)R antagonist 8-(3-chlorostyryl)caffeine produced motor stimulation in mice lacking the D(2)R, although the stimulation was significantly attenuated. At the cellular level, A(2A)R inactivation counteracted the increase in enkephalin expression in striatopallidal neurons caused by D(2)R deficiency. Consistent with the D(2) KO phenotype, A(2A)R inactivation partially reversed both acute D(2)R antagonist (haloperidol)-induced catalepsy and chronic haloperidol-induced enkephalin mRNA expression. Together, these results demonstrate that A(2A)Rs elicit behavioral and cellular responses despite either the genetic deficiency or pharmacological blockade of D(2)Rs. Thus, A(2A)R-mediated neural functions are partially independent of D(2)Rs. Moreover, endogenous adenosine acting at striatal A(2A)Rs may be most accurately viewed as a facilitative modulator of striatal neuronal activity rather than simply as an inhibitory modulator of D(2)R neurotransmission.

To test for the relative contributions of the dopaminergic and serotoninergic systems in the striatum to the effects of d-fenfluramine, an indirect serotonin receptor agonist, we assessed the expression of Fos/Jun proteins induced by d-fenfluramine given alone or in the presence of dopaminergic or serotoninergic agents. To determine the neuronal targets of d-fenfluramine in the striatum, we identified the phenotypes of striatal neurons in which d-fenfluramine induced Fos expression. Our results demonstrated that d-fenfluramine evokes nuclear expression of Fos/Jun B proteins in the striatum, and that the Fos expression was dose-dependent and accompanied by transient induction of c-fos mRNA. Fos expression was blocked by p-chloroamphetamine, a serotoninergic neurotoxin. Pretreatment with SCH 23390, a D1-dopamine receptor antagonist, led to a marked decrease in Fos/Jun B expression in the caudoputamen, but not in the cortex, whereas pretreatment with methiothepin, a nonselective serotonin 5-HT1 receptor antagonist, blocked Fos expression completely in the cortex and only partially in the caudoputamen. The expression of Fos/Jun B in the striatum occurred mainly in dynorphin-containing neurons and in a subpopulation of striatal interneurons that exhibited NADPH-diaphorase activity. Most of the enkephalin-containing neurons of the striatum did not show Fos/Jun B staining. These results suggest that the mechanism by which d-fenfluramine induces c-fos and jun B expression in the rat caudoputamen depends at least in part on activation of the dopaminergic system by serotonin.

RATIONALE:Nitric oxide (NO) has been postulated to contribute significantly to analgesic effects of opiates as well as to the development of tolerance and physical dependence to morphine.OBJECTIVE:The present study was undertaken to determine the effect of chronic morphine treatment and abstinence on the expression of neuronal NO synthase (neuronal NOS, nNOS) in several brain regions of mice.METHODS:Seven days after the implantation of a 75 mg morphine pellet, adult male CD1 mice received a SC dose of 1 mg/kg naloxone. Fifteen minutes after the naloxone injection, brains were removed and nNOS expression was studied by using immunohistochemical methods.RESULTS:Morphine-dependence produced an increase in the number of nNOS-positive cells in the main and accessory olfactory bulb, olfactory nuclei, cerebellum, locus coeruleus, medulla oblongata (nucleus of the solitary tract and prepositus hypoglossal nucleus), and a decrease in nNOS immunoreactivity in hypothalamus. The administration of naloxone to morphine-dependent mice to induce abstinence increased nNOS immunoreactivity in the hypothalamus and locus coeruleus.CONCLUSIONS:These results indicate that the chronic treatment with morphine leads to alterations in nNOS expression in important regions implicated in the physical tolerance and dependence to opiates and suggest the use of specific inhibitors of this isoform in these conditions.

We studied the effects of lamotrigine [3,5-diamino-6-(2,3-dichlorophenyl)-1,2,4-triazine], a new antiepileptic compound, on naloxone-precipitated morphine withdrawal in mice. Pretreatment with lamotrigine (5–100 mg/kg, s.c.) reversed in a dose-dependent way the withdrawal-induced increase in cerebellar Ca2+-dependent nitric oxide (NO) synthase activity and reduced the number of escape jumps and other motor symptoms of abstinence, at doses that did not modify locomotor activity (25–50 mg/kg). Pretreatment with the NMDA receptor antagonist MK-801 [(+)-5-methyl-10,11-dihydroxy-5H-dibenzo[a,d]cyclohepten-5,10-imine; dizocilpine] (0.1–0.3 mg/kg, s.c.) also reversed the increase in cerebellar Ca2+-dependent NO synthase activity. However, although MK-801 reduced the number of escape jumps and other motor symptoms of abstinence, its effects were not clearly dose-dependent. Furthermore, the highest dose of MK-801 tested (0.3 mg/kg) caused an impairment of the locomotor behaviour in naive mice. Thus, lamotrigine may represent a new and useful agent for the treatment of opiate abstinence.

Previous studies have reported that the histamine H1 receptor blocker tripelennamine potentiates morphine withdrawal. In this paper, the in vivo effects produced by tripelennamine on the turnover of serotonin (5-HT), dopamine (DA) and noradrenaline (NA) in the whole brain, excluding the cerebellum, were studied in control, morphine-dependent (by SC implantation of a 75 mg morphine pellet) and morphine-dependent male CD1 mice just before naloxone-precipitated withdrawal. Tripelennamine (1-10 mg/kg) was administered SC 45 min. before the animals were killed. Serotonin, 5-hydroxyindole-3-acetic acid (5-HIAA), dopamine, 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC), homovanillic acid (HVA) and noradrenaline were measured by high performance liquid chromatography coupled with electrochemical detection (HPLC-ECD) and 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylethyleneglycol (MHPG) was measured by HPLC coupled with fluorimetric detection. Ratios 5-HIAA/ 5-HT, DOPAC + HVA/DA and MHPG/NA were taken as an index of serotonin, dopamine and noradrenaline turnovers, respectively. Tripelennamine (1 and 10 mg/kg) significantly reduced serotonin turnover in control and morphine-dependent mice, and potentiated the serotonin turnover reduction when it was administered 30 min before naloxone injection. The dopamine turnover was diminished by tripelennamine (1 and 10 mg/kg) in the morphine-dependent group. Tripelennamine (10 mg/kg) reduced noradrenaline turnover during abstinence. These results suggest that the potentiation of opiate abstinence by tripelennamine could be related to its antiserotonergic profile.

The opiate withdrawal induced by administration of naloxone to morphine-dependent mice correlates with an increment of calcium- dependent nitric oxide synthase (NOS) activity in the cerebellum. L-NAME, an irreversible competitive inhibitor of NOS (0.5, 5, 25, 50 mg/kg) injected sc. 45 min. prior to naloxone significantly reduced the number of escape jumps and other motor symptoms of abstinence. In addition, L-NAME also decreased NOS activity in cerebellum. L-arginine, but not D-arginine, when coadministered with L-NAME, prevented both the inhibition of NOS activity and the reduction of withdrawal symptoms induced by L-NAME in morphine-withdrawn animals. These results demonstrate a hyperactivity of the L-arginine: NO pathway in opiate withdrawal and suggests the possibility of a therapeutic use of NOS inhibitors in this state.

This study was designed to explain the action of sodium cromoglycate (CRO) on the brain serotonergic system in control, morphine tolerant (by SC implantation of a 75 mg morphine pellet), and also in morphine dependent mice just before naloxone-precipitated withdrawal. After SC injections of CRO in control mice, morphine tolerant mice (day 4 of addiction), and 1 h before abstinence (withdrawal was induced by SC injection of 1 mg/kg naloxone on day 4 of addiction), animals were decapitated and various brain areas were rapidly removed. 5HT (Serotonin) and 5HIAA (5-hydroxyindole-3-acetic acid) were measured by high performance liquid chromatography coupled with electrochemical detection (HPLC-ECD). The ratio 5HIAA/5HT provided one index by which the turnover of the indoleamine was measured. CRO increased the turnover of 5HT in most of the brain areas studied in both control and morphine dependent mice. Furthermore, previous administration of CRO prior to naloxone challenge induced a significant increase in the 5HIAA/5HT ratio in the hypothalamus and striatum. These results are discussed as the reason for the preventive effect of CRO on jumping behaviour in morphine abstinent mice.