Journal of Neuroscience, Vol 8, 4027-4037, Copyright © 1988 by Society for Neuroscience
Dopamine-sensitive anticonvulsant site in the rat striatum
L Turski, EA Cavalheiro, ZA Bortolotto, C Ikonomidou-Turski, Z Kleinrok and WA Turski
Department of Pharmacology, Medical School, Lublin, Poland.
The basal ganglia are involved in the organization of movement and function
in the initiation and expression of generalized and limbic seizures.
Dopamine is the principal neurotransmitter of the mesencephalic efferent
pathways terminating in the mammalian striatum. No function has been
ascribed to mesostriatal dopamine in the control of seizure spread in the
brain. This work presents evidence that bilateral application of picomole
amounts of apomorphine (a dopamine agonist) into the striatum confers
protection against seizures produced by pilocarpine (a cholinergic agonist)
in rats. The anticonvulsant effect of apomorphine is topographically
confined to the caudate- putamen, nucleus accumbens, and olfactory
tubercle. Bilateral application of nanomolar amounts of haloperidol (a
dopamine antagonist) into the caudate-putamen or systemic application of
haloperidol both lower the threshold for pilocarpine-induced seizures.
Local application of an excitatory amino acid N-methyl-D-aspartate, into
the substantia nigra pars compacta, ventral tegmental area, or retrorubral
area, sites of origin of mesostriatal dopaminergic pathways, protects rats
against seizures produced by pilocarpine. These results suggest that
dopaminergic transmission in the striatum may be operative in complex
neuronal networks modulating the seizure threshold.