Sustained behavioral recovery from unilateral nigrostriatal damage produced by the controlled release of dopamine from a silicone polymer pellet placed into the denervated striatum.

This study was conducted to determine if the behavioral asymmetry associated with unilateral nigrostriatal dopamine (DA) depletion could be alleviated by placing a small DA-releasing silicone polymer matrix pellet into the denervated striatum of rats. Animals that received DA-releasing pellets showed a 50% reduction in apomorphine-induced rotational behavior, and this effect persisted for the 2-month duration of the experiment. The results suggest that the controlled release of DA from an intrastriatal polymer matrix can produce a long-lasting reduction in some of the symptoms associated with DA depletion.