Essential fatty acids modulate apomorphine activity at dopamine receptors in cat caudate slices.

We have used a classical neurotransmitter release model to investigate the effect of dietary polyenoic fatty acids on the sensitivity of the presynaptic dopamine autoreceptor in slices of cat caudate nucleus. Maximum inhibition of [3H]dopamine release was seen only in animals fed a diet containing post delta-6-desaturation fatty acids of both the w3 and w6 series. The removal of either or both groups of fatty acids resulted in attenuation of sensitivity of the autoreceptor to apomorphine. We propose that a balance of w3 and w6 fatty acids is required to maintain normal dopaminergic function in the cat caudate nucleus.