Subsensitivity of the rat striatal dopaminergic system after treatment with bromocriptine: effects on [3H]spiperone binding and dopamine-stimulated cyclic AMP formation.

Repeated daily administration of the dopamine (DA) agonist bromocriptine (15 mg/kg; s.cut.) to rats led to a time dependent decrease in the in vitro binding of [3H]spiperone to striatal membranes. Kinetic analysis of [3H]spiperone binding after 2 and 7 days of bromocriptine treatment showed a 25-50% reduction in the total number of binding sites with no changein their affinity for spiperone. There was also a decreased accumulation of cyclic AMP (cAMP) in striatal slices in response to DA after bromocriptine treatment. The DA-sensitive adenylate cyclase in striatal homogenates, however, remained unchanged in bromocriptine treated rats. There was also no change in cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase activity in striatal tissue after bromocriptine treatment. Furthermore, incubation of striatal slices in the presence of the phosphodiesterase inhibitor isobutylmethylxanthine did not alter the decreased cAMP response to DA after 2 days of bromocriptine treatment. These results suggest that a decreased number of DA receptor sites may be responsible for the reduced cAMP response to DA in striatal slices after bromocriptine treatment.