Chronic salsolinol administration prevents the behavioral and neurochemical effects of L-DOPA in rats.

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1-Methyl-6,7-dihydroxy-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinoline (salsolinol) is a well-known endogenous compound that has been proposed as a factor involved in the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease. In the present study, we investigated the impact of acute and chronic salsolinol (100 mg.kg i.p.) administration on L-DOPA-induced locomotor hyperactivity and neurochemical changes (the dopamine level and its metabolism in rat brain structures). Moreover, using the in vivo microdialysis technique, we measured the effect of acute and chronic salsolinol injection on L-DOPA-induced dopamine release in the rat striatum. The behavioral data demonstrated that both acute and chronic salsolinol administration antagonized L-DOPA-mediated hyperactivity. An ex vivo neurochemical experiment indicated that chronic but not acute salsolinol administration partially inhibited the L-DOPA-induced increases in the concentration of dopamine and all of its metabolites in dopaminergic structures. Additionally, the in vivo dopamine release data obtained from the microdialysis experiments clearly indicated that the differences in the effect of salsolinol on the activities of L-DOPA depended on the mode of salsolinol treatment. Acute injection of salsolinol enhanced the L-DOPA-induced elevation of dopamine release (by ~1200 %; P < 0.01), whereas chronic administration of salsolinol completely blocked the L-DOPA-induced elevation of dopamine release in the rat striatum. These data demonstrated that chronic administration of salsolinol significantly impaired the response of dopaminergic neurons to L-DOPA administration. In conclusion, we propose that an elevated salsolinol level in parkinsonian patients may represent a serious risk factor of the clinical efficacy of L-DOPA therapy.

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