The short- and long-term effects of haloperidol on rat central dopamine turnover.

We carried out a quantitative fluorescent histochemical analysis in rats in order to clarify the effects of chronic treatment with haloperidol on the central dopamine turnover. Long-term treatment with haloperidol showed no significant reduction of dopamine fluorescence intensities in the n. caudatus putamen, the n. accumbens, and the tuberculum olfactorium. This suggests that tolerance is established after long-term treatment with haloperidol in both mesolimbic and nigrostriatal dopamine systems, whereas tolerance is not observed in the tuberoinfundibular dopamine system.