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Organic mercury (CH3HgC1) with metal concentration 5 ppm in tap water was applied to rats suckling their newborn for the first 21 days of life. A second group of young rats took the mercury in their tap water 5 ppm from the 22nd to the 43rd day of postnatal life. Control rats drank tap water only. In 2-month-old male rats the following behavioral study was performed after saline or specific central dopamine receptor agonists and agonists apply (quinpirole, SKF-38393, haloperidol, SCH-23390): irritability, yawning behavior, oral activity, locomotion, exploratory activity, and catalepsy, in the striatum and frontal cortex of three examined groups the biogenic amines levels (DA, DOPAC, HVA, 3-MT, 5-HT, 5-H1AA, NA) were estimated by means of HPLC/ED technique, and DA and 5-HT turnover. The effect of quinpirole (a central dopamine D[sub2] receptor agonists) was also examined on (³H)glucose uptake in discrete parts of' the brain. It was shown that mercury affected behavioral changes after dopaminergic agents apply to adult animals when exposed in the period from the 22nd to 43rd day of postnatal development. Biochemical changes (biogenic amines level, turnover and (³H)glucose uptake) were more pronounced in adult animals exposed to mercury via mother's milk (lst to 21st day of life). In light of the above we conclude that early postnatal exposure of rats to organic mercury modulates activity of the central dopamine neurotransmitter system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to examine behavioral and biochemical effects of nafadotride, the new dopamine D3 receptor antagonist, and to compare it with haloperidol (dopamine D2 receptor antagonist) and clozapine (predominate dopamine D4 receptor antagonist). Each drug was injected to adult male Wistar rats intraperitoneally, each at a single dose and for 14 consecutive days. Thirty minutes after single or last injection of the examined drugs, the following behavioral parameters were recorded: yawning, oral activity, locomotion, exploratory activity, catalepsy and coordination ability. By HPLC/ED methods, we determined the effects of the examined antagonists on the levels of biogenic amines in striatum and hippocampus: dopamine (DA), 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC), homovanillic acid (HVA), 3-methoxytyramine (3-MT), 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) and noradrenaline (NA). Additionally, DA and 5-HT synthesis rate was determined in striatum and 5-HT in hippocampus. The results of the study indicate that nafadotride, the dopamine D3 receptor antagonist, has a behavioral and biochemical profile of action different from that of haloperidol but partially similar to that of clozapine.