Ontogeny of phencyclidine and apomorphine-induced startle gating deficits in rats.
Z A Martinez, N D Halim, J L Oostwegel, Mark A. Geyer, N R Swerdlow
Pharmacology, biochemistry, and behavior March 1, 2000 DOI: 10.1016/s0091-3057(99)00217-8 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Experimental study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Rats (16-day-old pups and adult rats) |
| Interventions | Phencyclidine (PCP) Apomorphine |
| Key findings | NMDA antagonist PCP and dopamine agonist apomorphine disrupt prepulse inhibition in 16-day-old rat pups, but PCP-induced neurotoxicity is only evident in adult rats, indicating dissociable mechanisms across development. |
Abstract
NMDA antagonists and dopamine (DA) agonists produce neuropathological and/or behavioral changes in rats that may model specific abnormalities in schizophrenia patients. In adult rats, NMDA antagonists and DA agonists disrupt sensorimotor gating-measured by prepulse inhibition (PPI)-modeling PPI deficits in schizophrenia patients. In addition, high doses of NMDA antagonists produce limbic system pathology that may model neuropathology in schizophrenia patients. We examined these behavioral and neuropathological models across development in rats. Both the NMDA antagonist phencyclidine (PCP) and the DA agonist apomorphine disrupted PPI in 16 day pups, demonstrating early developmental functionality in substrates regulating these drug effects on PPI. In contrast, PCP neurotoxicity was evident only in adult rats. Brain mechanisms responsible for the PCP disruption of PPI, and PCP-induced neurotoxicity, are dissociable across development.