Further characterization of tolerance to the corticosterone-elevating effect of pergolide in rats.

Four daily injections of pergolide, an ergoline dopamine agonist, made male rats tolerant to the corticosterone-elevating effects of an acute injection of pergolide on the fifth day. This tolerance occurred not only to acute treatment with pergolide, but also to other dopamine agonists differing in structure, potency and receptor subtype selectivity. Plasma corticosterone was elevated following administration of opioid or serotonin agonists in both vehicle- and pergolide-pretreated rats. The current findings strengthen the conclusion that tolerance to the acute elevation of corticosterone by pergolide is not due to impairment of pituitary-adrenocortical function but instead to changes in dopamine receptors that initiate the response.