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Functional dopamine deficits in the senile rat retina

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 April 2001

M.W. HANKINS
M.W. HANKINS
Affiliation:
Division of Neuroscience, Imperial College School of Medicine, Charing Cross Hospital, Fulham Palace Road, London W6 8RP, England
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Abstract

The activity of the endogenous retinal dopamine (DA) pathway has been examined in the pigmented rat using retinas obtained from normal adult (∼3 months) and senile adults (∼24 months) using an in vitro electrophysiological approach. By comparing the pharmacological sensitivity of the horizontal cells (HCs) to exogenous DA, a D1 receptor antagonist (SCH 23390) and a DA-transport inhibitor (nomifensine), it is suggested that there is a functional deficit in the endogenous DA activity in the senile retina. Cells recorded from retinae obtained from senile animals are more sensitive to exogenous DA, whilst the senile retina is insensitive to SCH 23390. In addition, nomifensine was effective in potentiating subthreshold DA applications, but only in the normal adult retina. The data may suggest that endogenous DA release upon the HCs and selective re-uptake are suppressed in these retinae. These functional deficits also appear to be associated with changes in the receptive fields of the HCs, suggesting there is a corresponding deficit in spatial processing at the outer plexiform layer (OPL) of the senile rat.

Keywords

RetinaDopamineAgeingNomifensineDopamine transporterHorizontal cell
Type
Research Article
Information
Visual Neuroscience , Volume 17 , Issue 6 , November 2000 , pp. 839 - 845
Copyright
2000 Cambridge University Press

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