FATTY-ACID INCORPORATION DEPICTS BRAIN ACTIVITY IN A RAT MODEL OF PARKINSONS-DISEASE

Following pulse labeling with [H-3]arachidonic acid ([H-3]AA), its inc orporation pattern in brain reflects regional changes in neurotransmit ter signal transduction using phospholipase A(2). that is, functional activity. In a rat model of Parkinson's disease, unilateral 6-hydroxyd opamine lesion in the substantia nigra, [H-3]AA acid incorporation fro m blood was increased in cerebral cortex, caudate putamen, globus pall idus, entopeduncular nucleus, subthalamic nucleus and substantia nigra pars reticulata ipsilateral to the lesion. This increased [H-3]AA inc orporation likely reflects disinhibition of basal ganglia and cortical circuits secondary to absent inhibitory nigrostriatal dopaminergic in put. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.