Implantation of cultured rat foetal adrenal gland cells reverses amphetamine-induced rotation in the 6-hydroxydopamine-lesioned rat striatum: behavioural,ultrastructural and voltammetric data

Abstract

Roller tube cultures of foetal rat adrenal gland grown in the presence of nerve growth factor were implanted into the 6-hydroxydopamine-lesioned rat striatum to assess the ability of such cells to release catecholamine and restore function. Fast cyclic voltammetry was used to demonstrate that the lesions significantly reduced dopamine overflow following electrical stimulation of brain slices of the ipsilateral caudate putamen and nucleus accumbens. Viable reaggregates caused a significant reduction in the amphetamine-induced rotational behaviour over a period of 33 days, but no reduction of rotation was observed after the implantation of control materials. Fast cyclic voltammetry within and around the site of the implant was unable to demonstrate electrically stimulated dopamine overflow. Transmission electron microscopy of sections taken from the lesioned and implanted striatum failed to demonstrate any transformation by the implants towards a neuronal phenotype.