Effects of nicotine on catecholaminergic neurotransmission in a premotor stage model of Parkinson’s disease

Altered cognitive, social, and emotional behaviors are early-onset symptoms of Parkinson’s disease (PD) associated with the partial loss of dopamine (DA) neurotransmission in the nucleus accumbens (n.Acc). A partial 6-hydroxydopamine (OHDA) bilateral lesion of the dorsal striatum (DS) in...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Cristina Cosi, Agnes Auclair, Veronique Ravailhe, Nathalie Malfetes, Veronique N’Guyen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Academia.edu Journals 2025-02-01
Series:Academia Biology
Online Access:https://www.academia.edu/127916643/Effects_of_nicotine_on_catecholaminergic_neurotransmission_in_a_premotor_stage_model_of_Parkinson_s_disease
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Altered cognitive, social, and emotional behaviors are early-onset symptoms of Parkinson’s disease (PD) associated with the partial loss of dopamine (DA) neurotransmission in the nucleus accumbens (n.Acc). A partial 6-hydroxydopamine (OHDA) bilateral lesion of the dorsal striatum (DS) in rats induces impairments in cognitive functions, social behavior, and depressive-like behavior, with little effect on locomotor activity, whether spontaneous or forced. Limited data are available on n.Acc dopaminergic neurotransmission in these lesioned animals, under resting and nicotine-stimulated conditions. In our study, rats with bilateral 6-OHDA-lesioned DS showed a 44–59% decrease in DS catecholamine content and about a 32% decrease in ventral tegmental area/substantia nigra tyrosine hydroxylase–positive neurons compared with sham-operated animals. No motor coordination impairment was detected by the rotarod test, and the basal DA release in n.Acc, tested by microdialysis, did not differ among lesioned, sham, and naïve rats. In lesioned animals, however, subcutaneous (s.c.) saline injection caused a decrease in DA release in n.Acc, confirming a threshold reduction in DA function in lesioned animals. Nicotine increased DA release in the n.Acc of naïve rats, with a maximally effective dose of 0.32 mg/kg s.c. This nicotine treatment restored DA release in the n.Acc of lesioned animals without affecting DS total catecholamine content. These data demonstrate the functionality of surviving DA neurons in the n.Acc (shell part) after partial lesion and suggest the relevance of the proposed model for the neurochemical characterization of early interventions in PD.
ISSN:2837-4010