Effect of chronic haloperidol and quinacrine coadministration on striatal HVA levels and stereotypic behaviors in response to apomorphine in the rat.

The effects of chronic administration of quinacrine, a phospholipase A2 inhibitor, on striatal homovanillic acid (HVA) levels and behavioral sensitivity to challenge with a dopamine agonist were examined in rats. Moreover, the ability of chronic phospholipase A2 inhibition to modulate the behavioral supersensitivity and striatal HVA reduction induced by chronic haloperidol administration was also examined. Daily intraperitoneal injection of quinacrine resulted in a significant reduction of striatal HVA levels. Coadministration of haloperidol with quinacrine in this paradigm caused a more profound reduction of striatal HVA levels than either drug administered alone. That this effect of combined administration is not simply due to postsynaptic effects of quinacrine on dopamine receptor sensitivity is suggested by the fact that behavioral supersensitivity was not induced by quinacrine alone nor was the behavioral supersensitivity induced by the quinacrine-haloperidol combination greater than that induced by chronic haloperidol administration alone. There were no effects of any treatment condition on striatal levels of serotonin (5-HT) or 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA). These data implicate phospholipase A2 activity in the regulation of dopaminergic transmission.