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After nigrostriatal dopaminergic denervation, the output nuclei of the basal ganglia, the medial globus pallidus and substantia nigra pars reticulata (Snr), become overactive, in part, because of increased activity of excitatory afferents from the subthalamic nucleus (STN). Because STN uses glutamate as a transmitter, we examined whether there are regulatory changes in glutamate receptor binding in the basal ganglia. Rats received unilateral 6-hydroxydopamine lesions of the medial forebrain bundle and substantia nigra pars compacta that were confirmed by apomorphine-induced rotation and 3H-GBR-12935 binding. As an indirect index of relative synaptic activity, succinate dehydrogenase and cytochrome oxidase activities were assayed histochemically in sections adjacent to those used for receptor binding. There were increases in enzymatic activity in entopeduncular nucleus (EP; the rodent homolog of medial globus pallidus), SNr, and globus pallidus (GP, the rodent homolog of lateral globus pallidus) in the lesioned hemisphere, suggesting increased synaptic activity, perhaps due to increased firing of the STN. Ipsilateral to the lesion, and postsynaptic to the STN, there were profound decreases in the binding of 3H-AMPA (alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methylisoxazole propionic acid) in EP and SNr (45% and 30%, respectively); there were no alterations in the striatum, globus pallidus, or STN, and binding throughout the unlesioned hemisphere was equivalent to that in unlesioned control animals. In contrast, 3H-MK-801 binding to the NMDA receptor ion channel was not reduced in SNr, and was too low to be measured reliably in EP and STN. 3H-MK-801 binding was reduced by 6% in striatum and 39% in globus pallidus.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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