In vivo studies on the dopamine re-uptake mechanism in the striatum of the rat: effects of benztropine, sodium and ouabain.

We used the push-pull perfusion technique to study the in vivo changes in dopamine (DA) levels in the rat striatum in response to treatments which could affect DA re-uptake into the nigrostriatal DA terminals. Benztropine (10(-6) M), a potent DA uptake inhibitor induced a 1.7-fold increase in DA levels in the perfusates compared to basal levels. Perfusion with a Na+-free medium in which Na+ was replaced with either Tris-Cl or choline-Cl in equimolar proportions induced respectively 6.5- and 8.5-fold increases in DA levels in the perfusates. Perfusion of media containing NaCl:Tris-Cl (50:50) or NaCl:choline-Cl (50:50) did not significantly alter the levels of DA in the perfusates. Ouabain (10(-6) M) did not significantly alter DA levels but at a concentration of 10(-4) M, there was a 5.3-fold increase in DA levels in the perfusates compared to basal levels. These results thus demonstrate that the raised DA levels in the extracellular space in response to benztropine is due to the action of the drug in blocking the uptake of DA. The dependence of the uptake mechanism on the presence of Na+ in the external medium and hence on metabolic energy (Na pump) is clearly demonstrated. However, the massive elevation of DA levels under these conditions cannot be due solely to an inhibition of DA uptake but to the carrier-mediated DA exit from cytoplasmic stores resulting from a running down of the ionic gradient.