Changes of amino acid and monoamine levels after neonatal 6-hydroxydopamine denervation in rat basal ganglia, substantia nigra, and raphe nuclei

The effects of a neonatal dopaminergic deafferentation with the neurotoxin 6‐hydroxydopamine (6‐OHDA) on endogenous tissue levels of catecholamines, indoleamines, and amino acids were investigated in discrete rat brain regions. After producing the lesion at postnatal day 3 by intraventricular injections of 6‐OHDA, with a desipramine pretreatment to protect noradrenaline neurons, the animals were kept for 3 months. Their brains were dissected to obtain samples of neostriatum, Globus pallidus, Substantia nigra, and Raphe nuclei, which were then analyzed by high‐performance liquid chromatography, coupled either to electrochemical detection for aromatic monoamines, or to post‐column ninhydrin derivatization with spectrophotometry for amino acids. The neonatal 6‐OHDA treatment depleted dopamine (DA) levels in neostriatum, Globus pallidus, and Substantia nigra, but in Raphe nuclei DA was increased. The main metabolites of DA were also decreased in neostriatum, Globus pallidus, and Substantia nigra but remained unchanged in Raphe nuclei. Serotonin (5‐HT) and its metabolite 5‐hydroxyindole‐3‐acetic acid increased in neostriatum and Raphe nuclei; in Substantia nigra there was a slight increase in 5‐HT only. The 6‐OHDA lesion caused heterogeneous alterations in amino acid contents, which varied according to the region. In the neostriatum there were increases of γ‐aminobutyric acid (GABA), aspartic acid, and glycine. In the Globus pallidus taurine, GABA, glutamic acid, glutamine, aspartic acid, serine, and alanine were elevated. In the Substantia nigra only increases in taurine, GABA, glutamic acid, and glutamine could be documented. This study shows important changes in amino acid levels and in some of their ratios, occurring in different anatomical subdivisions of the basal ganglia and related brainstem nuclei following a neonatal treatment with 6‐OHDA. The results thus demonstrate major biochemical modifications in amino acids in the aftermath of a DA denervation and/or a 5‐HT hyperinnervation during an early developmental period. © 1993 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.