Enhancing effect of taurine in the rat caudate spindle. II. Effect of bilateral 6-hydroxydopamine lesions of the nigro-striatal dopamine system.

Bilateral injections of 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) into the medial forebrain bundle of rats resulted in destruction of dopamine (DA) nerve terminals in the striatum. DA contents decreased to 16.8, 15.0 and 13.7% of control values on 3, 5 and 7 days after the lesions, respectively. The time course of the effect of 6-OHDA lesions on apomorphine (0.5 mg/kg, IV)-induced stereotypy was investigated as the index of the development of supersensitivity. Stereotypy was unchanged on 3 days, but was enhanced 5 and 7 days after 6-OHDA lesions. Therefore, the sensitivity of postsynaptic DA receptors for apomorphine did not change 3 days after 6-OHDA lesions, although the striatal DA was depleted. The effects of bilateral injections of taurine into the striatum on the rat caudate spindle were determined 3 days after 6-OHDA lesions. Taurine, at a dose of 30 micrograms, enhanced the spindle in sham-operated rats, but this enhancement was not seen after 6-OHDA lesions. Intravenous administration of apomorphine (0.5 mg/kg) to lesioned rats suppressed the spindle, and this effect was prevented by a lower dose (3 micrograms) of taurine. These results provide further evidence that taurine enhances the spindle, possibly by decreasing the activity of the nigro-striatal DA system at the pre- and postsynaptic sites.