Differential effect of kainic acid on somatostatin, GABAergic and cholinergic neurons in the rat striatum.

Kainic acid was injected into the rat striatum and its effects on presumptive striatal cholinergic, GABAergic and somatostatin-containing neurons were examined with three histochemical staining methods. Presumptive cholinergic and GABAergic neurons are damaged to a similar extent, but somatostatin neurons are more sensitive to the neurotoxic effect of kainic acid and are more severely affected.