Regulation of cholecystokinin mRNA content in rat striatum: a glutamatergic hypothesis.

Changes in the cholecystokinin (CCK) mRNA content in rat striatum after the administration of specific glutamate and dopamine (DA) receptor agonists and antagonists were investigated. MK-801 (1 mg/kg i.p.), a selective noncompetitive N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA)-sensitive glutamatergic receptor antagonist, but not 6-cyano-7-nitroquinoxaline-2,3-dione (1.1-9.2 micrograms i.c.v.), a competitive non-NMDA glutamatergic receptor antagonist, produced a time- and dose-dependent decrease in striatal CCK mRNA. The maximum inhibition (50%) was observed after a daily treatment for 1 week with MK-801 (1 mg/kg). The activation of NMDA receptors by a single injection of NMDA (1.4 micrograms i.c.v.) elicited an 80% increase in CCK mRNA in rat striatum 8 hr after the injection. These data suggest that glutamate exerts a tonic regulation on striatal CCK mRNA, mainly through NMDA-sensitive glutamatergic receptors. B-HT 920, a DA D2 receptor agonist and benztropine, a DA uptake blocker, increased striatal CCK mRNA. This increase was partially blocked by the concomitant administration of MK-801. Moreover, the DA receptor antagonist haloperidol, at a dose that per se failed to change CCK mRNA (0.3 mg/kg i.p.), partially blocked the increase in CCK mRNA elicited by NMDA. Similarly, the NMDA effect was attenuated in rats with a 6-hydroxydopamine-induced nigrostriatal lesion. Our findings suggest that in rat striatum a complex DA-glutamate interaction tonically regulates CCK expression via D2 and/or NMDA receptor activation.