Nigral grafts in neonatal rats protect from aphagia induced by subsequent adult 6-OHDA lesions: the importance of striatal location.

Previous studies have shown that dopamine-rich nigral grafts, implanted bilaterally into the intact neonatal brain, will provide some protection from the eating disorders induced by subsequent nigrostriatal 6-OHDA lesions. This has been repeated in the present study using unilaterally transplanted nigral grafts. Following adult lesions, the control animals displayed the full syndrome of aphagia, adipsia and akinesia. By contrast, 37% of the rats in the transplanted group recommenced eating following the adult lesion. Recovery was related to the size and position of the graft: protection was associated in particular with transplants located in the posterior-ventral neostriatum. The results are discussed in terms of specific patterns of graft-host interaction that may underlie protection of the regulation of eating from the loss of forebrain dopamine systems.