EFFECTS OF NERVE GROWTH-FACTOR INFUSION ON BEHAVIORAL RECOVERY AND GRAFT-SURVIVAL FOLLOWING INTRAVENTRICULAR ADRENAL-MEDULLA GRAFTS IN THE UNILATERAL 6-HYDROXYDOPAMINE LESIONED RAT

NGF was infused into the lateral ventricle of rats with unilateral 6-O HDA lesions of the substantia nigra along with adrenal medulla or cont rol grafts. Treatment effectiveness, as measured by amphetamine-induce d turning behavior, indicated that there were no significant differenc es between treated and control groups in spite of the survival of tyro sine hydroxylase (TH) immunoreactive grafts. Furthermore, adrenal medu lla graft survival was not dependent on NGF infusion. These results in dicate that TH-positive graft survival is not correlated with behavior al recovery as assessed by amphetarnine-induced turning. These results differ from studies which utilized apomorphine-induced turning as a m easure of behavioral recovery. We propose that adrenal medulla graft s urvival alone is not sufficient to promote behavioral recovery in the 6-OHDA lesioned rat.