Effects of acute and subacute administration of bicuculline on dopamine and muscarinic receptors in rat brain

Abstract

The changes of characteristics of dopamine (D1 and D2) and muscarinic receptors after acute and subacute administration of bicuculline were examined in rat brain. The results demonstrated that in striatal region, the B max of D2 receptor was significantly increased with no change of affinity after subacute administration of bicuculline. However, neither B max nor K d or the D2 receptor was changed after single administration. The characteristics of D1 receptor were not changed by either acute or subacute administration. The B max of muscarinic receptor in striatal area was significantly increased without changes of affinity after both a single and repeated administration of bicuculline. However, in hippocampus, the B max of muscarinic receptor was significantly decreased after subacute administration of bicuculline. The results suggest that the interactions among GABAergic, dopaminergic and cholinergic neuron exist in central nerve system.