Source
School of Biomedical Science, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, 4072, Australia.
Abstract
RATIONALE:
Developmental vitamin D (DVD) deficiency has been proposed as a risk factor for schizophrenia. DVD deficiency in neonatal rats is associated with alterations in cellular development, dopamine metabolism, and brain morphology. DVD-deficient adult rats show novelty-induced hyperlocomotion and an enhanced locomotor response to MK-801, which can be ameliorated by pretreatment with the antipsychotic drug haloperidol.
OBJECTIVES:
In this study, we examined locomotor responses of male and female juvenile and adult rats to a dose range of amphetamine. We also measured dopamine receptor and monoamine transporter densities in adult brain.
RESULTS:
Female DVD-deficient adult rats displayed an enhanced sensitivity to amphetamine-induced locomotion, an increased dopamine transporter density in the caudate-putamen and increased affinity in the nucleus accumbens compared with control females. By contrast, there were no differences between control and DVD-deficient male rats.
DISCUSSION:
Taken together, this suggests an alteration in the development of the dopamine system and on dopamine-mediated behaviors in female DVD-deficient rats, and this may be relevant to the underlying neurobiology of schizophrenia.