Recent work, largely carried out in primate models of Parkinson's disease (PD), indicates that residual dopaminergic neurons in the midbrain and their axons to the nucleus accumbens and striatum can be stimulated to sprout collateral axons, reinnervate the striatum, and cause a behavioral recovery. We sought to create a partial lesion model of PD in the rat that would (i) mimic the pattern of cell loss in human patients in early stages of PD, and (ii) permit examination of experimental manipulations that promote sprouting of axons of the surviving dopaminergic cells in the midbrain. Rats with unilateral 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) lesions of the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc) were tested weekly for rotational asymmetry following administration of apomorphine or amphetamine. After completion of behavioral testing, the animals were sacrificed and the brains immunolabeled for tyrosine hydroxylase (TH). Analysis of anatomical and behavioral data revealed a strong correlation between number of remaining TH-immunoreactive cells in the SNpc and the number of rotations induced by apomorphine. There was no significant correlation between number of remaining TH-immunoreactive nigral neurons and number of rotations induced by amphetamine. We also examined the relation between area in the denervated striatum with remaining TH-immunoreactive axons, number of TH-immunoreactive cells in the lesioned SNpc, and rotational behavior. As expected, there was a strong correlation between area innervated by TH-immunoreactive axons and number of remaining TH-immunoreactive neurons in the lesioned SNpc. Total extent of innervation was also correlated with number of apomorphine-induced rotations but not with number of amphetamine-induced rotations.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)