Behavioral and electrophysiological correlates of the quinolinic acid rat model of Huntington's disease in rats

The influence of bilateral intrastriatal injection of quinolinic acid (QA, 300 nmol) was studied in male Wistar rats. Behavioral and electrophysiological experiments were conducted in 15 lesioned plus 15 vehicle-injected (control) animals. With respect to control animals, QA-lesioned rats showed marked, statistically significant alterations from both the behavioral (greater motor activation in response to d-amphetamine, place-learning deficit in the Morris water maze), and the electroencephalographic (reduced voltage amplitude and EEG power at the level of frontal cortex) points of view. In addition, a significant loss in body weight and a marked striatal gliosis (GFAP staining) were observed in lesioned rats. Conversely, QA-lesioned rats did not show modifications in posttetanic potentiation (P.T.P.) or long-term potentiation (L.T.P.) in CA1 hippocampal area. The present results confirm that QA lesions of rat striatum may be regarded as a suitable model of Huntington's disease (HD).