Altered dopamine D2-like receptor binding in rats with behavioral sensitization to quinpirole: effects of pre-treatment with Ro 41-1049

Repeated treatment with the dopamine D2/D3 receptor agonist quinpirole produces a sensitized behavioral response in rats manifested as an increase in locomotor activity. Pre-treatment with certain monoamine oxidase inhibitors, such as Ro 41-1049 [N-(2-aminomethyl)-5-(3-fluorophenyl)-4-thiazolecarboxamide HCl], changes the sensitized response from locomotion to stationary, self-directed mouthing. In this study, the effects of quinpirole sensitization, with and without pre-treatment with Ro 41-1049, were determined on dopamine D2-like receptors in the nucleus accumbens and the striatum. Long-Evans rats were pre-treated with Ro 41-1049 (1 mg/kg) 90 min prior to administration of quinpirole (0.5 mg/kg, 8 injections, every 3–4 days). Dopamine D2-like receptor binding was determined 3 days after the last injection by ex vivo radioligand assays using [3H]spiperone and [3H]quinpirole. Densities of [3H]spiperone- and [3H]quinpirole-labeled sites were both increased 32% in the nucleus accumbens of rats with demonstrated locomotor sensitization to quinpirole. In contrast, the density of dopamine D2-like receptors in quinpirole-sensitized rats pre-treated with Ro 41-1049 was not different from saline controls. These findings support the involvement of alterations in dopamine D2-like receptors in the development of locomotor sensitization to quinpirole and suggest that modification of these alterations in dopamine D2-like receptors contributes to the change from sensitized locomotion to mouthing observed when rats are pre-treated with Ro 41-1049.