Developmental and age-related alterations in rat brain presynaptic dopaminergic mechanisms

Irit Gordon, Ronit Weizman, Ella Rosenne, Moshe Rehavi*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

18 Scopus citations

Abstract

Age-related changes in both pre-and post-synaptic components of dopamine neurons have been demonstrated in humans as well as in animals. Our study was designed to examine the effects of age on presynaptic DA neurons. To assess the developmental changes in rat striatal dopamine carrier, we used [3H]GBR 12935, which binds selectively to this transporter. In addition we monitored changes in amphetamine-and KCl-induced [3H]DA release from rat striatal slices. We were able to demonstrate age dependent changes in DA transporter density, which reached a peak at age 3 months. Amphetamine-induced released of stored DA was exactly reversed, with a nadir at age 3 months. We assumed that the combination of low DA transporter level with increased transporter-mediated DA release may have a major compensatory role with respect to the maintenance of dopaminergic transmission during normal development, aging and neuro-degenerative diseases.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)225-228
Number of pages4
JournalDevelopmental Brain Research
Volume85
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - 18 Apr 1995

Keywords

  • Aging
  • Amphetamine
  • Dopamine
  • Dopamine release
  • Dopamine transporter
  • GBR-12935

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