Evidence for cell loss in corpus striatum after long-term treatment with a neuroleptic drug (flupenithixol) in rats.

The number of nerve cells in two different areas of the corpus striatum (i.e., ventrolateral and dorsomedial) was estimated in rat brain after long-term (36 weeks) treatment with the neuroleptic flupenthixol. Nine rats were given weekly injections of 4 mg/kg flupenthixol dissolved in Viscoleo i.m., and seven rats received Viscoleo alone. Fourteen to 18 weeks after the last drug injection, the animals were decapitated and half of each brain was fixated with formalin for cell-count analysis and the remaining half used for a biochemical analysis (Nielsen, 1977). Separate cell counts in the ventrolateral and dorsomedial corpus striatum yielded a significant cell loss of approximately 10%, but only in the ventrolateral striatum of treated animals. These results suggest at least one concrete anatomical basis for the behavioral and biochemical deficits found in the same animals, as reported earlier. The results further suggest that persistent irreversible anatomical changes can follow long-term neuroleptic treatment. The inconsistencies of results regarding cell loss in the corpus striatum may be due to neglect of dorsal-ventral structural differences in corpus striatum.