The hypoactivity associated with the repeated exposure to atrazine is related to decreases in the specific binding to d1-da receptors in the striatum of rats

The herbicide atrazine (atr) has a potential toxic effect on the neuronal circuits of the brain,specifically on two major dopaminergic pathways: the nigrostriatal and mesolimbic circuits. in this work,we repeatedly exposed adult male sprague-dawley rats to 6 injections of 100 mg atr/kg of body weight (for two weeks) and one saline injection two days after atr administration. locomotor activity was assessed for 15 minutes and/or 2 hours after atr or saline injection and 2 months after the final atr administration. the specific binding of [3h]-sch23390 to d1-da receptors and that of [3h]-spiperone to d2-da receptors in the dorsal and ventral striatum were assessed 2 days and 2 months after atr treatment. atr administration resulted in immediate,short- and long-term hypoactivity and reduced specific binding of [3h]-sch23390 in the dorsal striatum of rats evaluated 2 months after the last atr injection. the specific binding of [3h]-sch23390 in the ventral striatum and the specific binding of [3h]-spiperone in the dorsal and ventral striatum remained unchanged at 2 days or 2 months after atr treatment. these results,together with previous findings of our group,indicate that the nigrostriatal system is a preferential target for atr exposure. © 2017 josé abraham márquez-ramos et al.