Effects of the NMDA receptor antagonists on deltamethrin-induced striatal dopamine release in conscious unrestrained rats.

To better understand the neurotoxicity caused by the pyrethroid pesticide, we examined the effects of the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonists MK-801, a non-competitive cation channel blocker, and 2-amino-5-phosphonovaleric acid (APV), a competitive Na(+) channel blocker, on extracellular dopamine levels in male Sprague-Dawley rats receiving the type II pyrethroid deltamethrin using an in vivo microdialysis system. Deltamethrin (60 mg/kg, i.p.) evidently increased striatal dopamine levels with a peak time of 120 min, and the local infusion (i.c.) of either MK-801(650 muM) or APV (500 muM) completely blocked these actions. The fluctuation in the dopamine metabolite 3-MT also resembled that in dopamine. Our results suggest that dopamine-releasing neurons would be modulated via the NMDA receptor by the excitatory glutamatergic neurons after deltamethrin treatment.