In vitro studies indicate that mesencephalic dopamine neurons are more vulnerable than other neurons to impairment of energy metabolism. Such findings may have bearing on the loss of dopamine neurons in Parkinson's disease, in which mitochondrial deficiencies have been identified, but would only be relevant if the selective vulnerability were maintained in vivo. To examine this, rats were stereotaxically administered various concentrations of the succinate dehydrogenase inhibitor, malonate (0.25-4 mumol), either into the left substantia nigra or striatum. One week following injection, dopamine and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) levels in the mesencephalon and striatum were measured. Intranigral injection of malonate caused nigral dopamine and GABA to be comparably reduced at all doses tested. The 50% dose level for malonate vs. dopamine and GABA loss was 0.39 and 0.42 mumol, respectively. Tyrosine hydroxylase immunocytochemistry of the midbrains of rats which received an intranigral injection of malonate showed normal staining with 0.25 mumol malonate, but almost complete loss of tyrosine hydroxylase positive nigral pars compacta cells with 1 mumol malonate. Intrastriatal injection of malonate produced a loss of both tyrosine hydroxylase activity and dopamine. In contrast to what was seen in substantia nigra, there was a greater loss of dopamine than GABA in striatal regions nearest the injection site. In striatal regions most distal to the injection site, and which received the lowest concentration of malonate due to diffusion, dopamine levels were significantly reduced with all doses of malonate (0.5-4 mumol), whereas GABA levels were unaffected. Intrastriatal coinfusion of succinate along with malonate completely prevented the loss of dopamine and GABA indicating that succinate dehydrogenase inhibition was the cause of toxicity. These findings indicate that dopamine terminals in the striatum of adult rats are selectively more vulnerable than are the GABA neurons to a mild energy impairment.