Prenatal reserpine exposure in rats decreases caudate nucleus dopamine receptor binding in female offspring.

The effects of prenatal exposure to reserpine on [3H]spiroperidol binding in caudate nucleus at postnatal day (PND) 21 were investigated. Pregnant rats were dosed with 0, 0.375 or 0.750 mg/kg/day reserpine s.c. on days 12-15 of gestation. At PND 21, pups were killed and their brains were dissected and stored at -70 degrees C for analysis. Dopamine receptor binding was measured in membrane prepared from caudate nucleus of both sexes over a [3H]spiroperidol concentration range of 0.02 to 2.0 nM. Scatchard analysis revealed that the number of dopamine receptors (Bmax) in the membrane of female caudate nucleus was significantly decreased in a dose-dependent manner, while the dissociation constant (KD) was relatively unchanged. In male rats, neither Bmax nor KD was significantly reduced in either dose group. These results show that prenatal exposure to reserpine decreased the dopamine receptor number in caudate nucleus in a sex-dependent manner. This alteration may underly several sex-related behavioral changes that were previously found in offspring from identically treated dams.