The action of DL-2,4-diaminobutyric acid on the cataleptogenic effects of pilocarpine and alpha-flupenthixol in rats.

The existence of a strionigral GABA-ergic pathway having an inhibitory effect on the nigrostriatal dopaminergic system has been proposed. The work reported in this paper was undertaken to investigate whether modification of the GABA-eric system by the GABA neuronal uptake inhibitor DL-2,4-diaminobutyric acid (DABA) would affect cholinergic (pilocarpine) and/or neuroleptic alpha-flupenthixol (alpha-FPT) induced catalepsy. DABA pretreatment was shown to enhance significantly both alpha-FPT and pilocarpine induced catalepsy. DABA alone had no cataleptic activity. The results are interpreted as supporting the existence of an inhibitory strionigral GABA-ergic pathway.