[Neurochemical aspects of the cortical-subcortical interrelations after activation of the dopamine system with L-dopa].

In two groups of Wistar rats differing in horizontal motor activity in an open field, there was a dramatic lowering of that parameter after 2 weeks of administration of L-DOPA in the daily dose 50 mg/kg bw. The lowering in each group turned out different. Interferometric and cytophotometric studies of layers III and IV neurons of the sensorimotor cortex, n. caudatus and n. accumbens, made it possible to detect changes in the area of cytoplasm and neuronal nuclei, in their protein content, in aminopeptidase, glutamate dehydrogenase and glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase activity. The intensity and tendencies of the changes varied in both groups animals. It is concluded that excess dopamine produces an effect on the plastic and oxidative types of neuronal metabolism in the indicated structures.