A NEURAL SUBSTRATE OF HYPERACTIVITY IN BORNA-DISEASE - CHANGES IN BRAIN DOPAMINE-RECEPTORS

Rats experimentally infected with the neurotropic RNA virus, Borna dis ease virus, have a hyperactive movement disorder. Because locomotor ac tivity is modulated by the nucleus accumbens (N. Ace.) dopamine (DA) s ystem, high-affinity DA uptake, DA D1, D2, and D3 receptor binding sit es were examined in N. Ace. subregions of normal and infected rats by quantitative receptor autoradiography. The N. Ace. of infected rats ha d decreased mazindol and D2 and D3 radioligand binding in the core and decreased D3 radioligand binding in rostral subregions. The abnormali ties observed in the N. Ace. DA system of infected rats may offer insi ghts into the potential viral pathogenesis of psychiatric conditions w ith a dopaminergic substrate such as schizophrenia and affective disor ders. (C) 1996 Academic Press, Inc.