Locomotor-stimulating effects of indirect dopamine agonists are attenuated in Fawn hooded rats independent of postweaning social experience.

The effects of the indirect dopamine (DA) agonists cocaine and D-amphetamine on locomotor activity were examined in Fawn hooded (FH) rats and Wistar rats. The effect of isolation rearing was also examined to determine if it might have different effects in these two strains. Contrary to previous findings in other rat strains, only small increases in locomotor-stimulating responses to low doses of cocaine were observed in the present study as a result of isolation rearing. However, at higher cocaine doses, locomotor activity was substantially attenuated in FH rats relative to Wistar rats. A similar pattern of effects was observed for amphetamine in FH rats but only at the intermediate dose. The effects of strain and rearing were independent. There was no evidence for interactions between these factors.

The effects of isolation rearing on glutamate receptor NMDAR1A mRNA expression determined by in situ hybridization in Fawn hooded and Wistar rats.

Rats reared in social isolation exhibit a syndrome of behavioral and biochemical effects indicative of enhanced mesolimbic dopamine (DA) function. The precise nature of the neurodevelopmental changes that produce this state are unknown but result in enhanced DA neurotransmission in the nucleus accumbens (NAC). It was hypothesized that this may be the indirect result of chronic changes in glutamate NMDA receptor function. The same prediction has been made for Fawn hooded (FH) rats that exhibit some of the characteristic effects of isolation-reared rats when compared to Wistar rats. Therefore, mRNA levels of the NMDAR1A receptor subunit were determined by in situ hybridization and were quantified in the striatum, hippocampus and prefrontal cortex of FH and Wistar rats. Isolation rearing alone was not found to have an effect on the expression of NMDAR1A, while FH rats had reduced levels across most brain regions examined. In some areas of the striatum and prefrontal cortex, this effect was greater in FH isolates than in FH socials, while in the hippocampus, the opposite was observed.