Baclofen and muscimol: Behavioural and neurochemical sequelae of unilateral intranigral administration and effects on 3H-GABA receptor binding

Summary Log dose-response curves for induction of contralateral rotational behaviour in the rat by unilateral intranigral injections of the GABA agonist muscimol and the GABA analogue baclofen have been compared. Baclofen, 5–1000 ng, produced a maximal rotational response that was only 40% of that produced by 0.25–100 ng muscimol, and log dose-response curves failed to show parallelism. The behavioural effects of both drugs were only weakly antagonised by haloperidol and were not antagonised by 6-hydroxydopamine lesions of ipsilateral dopamine (DA) neurons, indicating that these responses were independent of DAergic mechanisms. The effects of baclofen were weakly antagonised by picrotoxin. Intranigral muscimol and baclofen substantially elevated striatal DA concentrations. While muscimol also substantially elevated striatal dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC) but not homovanillic acid (HVA), baclofen did not significantly effect either DOPAC or HVA. Baclofen, GABA and muscimol displaced specific ³H-GABA binding in vitro with IC₅₀'s of 40 m 400 nM and 40 nM respectively. These results indicate that muscimol and baclofen do not act via a unitary GABAergic mechanism, but suggest that baclofen may be a partial GABA agonist, at least at nigral GABA receptors.