Evaluation of the effects and mechanisms of action of flutriafol, a triazole fungicide, on striatal dopamine release by using in vivo microdialysis in freely moving rats

The purpose of the present work was to assess the effects of flutriafol, a triazole fungicide, on in vivo dopamine (DA) release from rat striatum, using brain microdialysis coupled to high-performance liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection (HPLC–EC). Intrastriatal administration of flutriafol (1, 6 and 12 mM) produced significant concentration-dependent increases in DA levels to 218.5±51%, 1376±245% and 3093±345% compared with basal values, respectively. Those increases in DA levels could be due to an increased DA exocytotic release and/or a change in the activity of DA transporter (DAT). Thus, we investigated the effects of flutriafol (6 mM) under Ca++- or Na+-free conditions, and after pretreatment with reserpine and TTX. When flutriafol was perfused in either Ca++- or Na+-free Ringer, the DA levels reduced 92% and 70%, respectively; perfusion of flutriafol in TTX-treated (10 μM) or reserpine-pretreated animals (10 mg/kg), reduced the levels of DA to 73% and 86%, respectively. Co-infusion of flutriafol and nomifensine (20 μM) shows that the flutriafol-induced DA release did not involve the DAT. Our results suggest that flutriafol induces DA release via vesicular-, Ca++-, Na+- and TTX-dependent mechanism, being independent of DAT.