POLE TEST IS A USEFUL METHOD FOR EVALUATING THE MOUSE-MOVEMENT DISORDER CAUSED BY STRIATAL DOPAMINE DEPLETION

We evaluated the behavioral recovery of mice with B-hydroxydopamine (6 -OHDA)-induced lesions using a pole test. T-LA (locomotor activity tim e) 1, 2, and 3 days after intracerebroventricular 6-OHDA injection (TL A(1-3D)) was correlated significantly with the levels of dopamine (DA) , dihydroxpphenylacetic acid (DOPAC), and homovanillic acid (HVA) in t he striatum 7 days after the injection of 6-OHDA, but 5-hydroxyindolea cetic acid (5-HIAA) and serotonin (5-HT) had no correlation with TLA(1 -3D). The mice whose TLA(1-3D) was more than the median showed about 6 0% depletion of striatal DA and increased DA turnover, and recovered f rom movement disorders 4 days after injection. These results show that presynaptic neuroadaptations and behavioral recovery exist in this an imal model. Thus, the pole test appears to be useful in predicting the extent of the lesion to select a mouse in which the receptive fields of the dopaminergic cells are denervated. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B. V.