Attenuation of Estradiol on the Reduction of Striatal Dopamine by Amphetamine in Ovariectomized Rats

Amphetamine (AMPH) is a highly addictive drug of abuse which exhibits toxicity to dopaminergic neurons in long-term abusers. Estrogen seems to show neuroprotection in dopamine (DA) deficit caused by AMPH. The present study was to investigate the effects of estradiol on the levels of striatal DA in ovariectomized (Ovx) rats treated with or without AMPH. Female rats were Ovx for 2 weeks before administration of AMPH (5 mg/kg/day, i.p.) with or without 17β-estradiol benzoate (EB) (25 µg/kg/day, s.c.) for 7 days. The striatal tissues were collected, homogenized with DA mobile phase, and centrifuged. The concentrations of DA in the supernatants were detected by HPLC. The protein expressions of dopamine transporter (DAT), vesicular monoamine transporter 2 (VMAT-2), and tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) were analyzed by Western blotting. The results indicated that AMPH could attenuate DA level significantly in striatum (P < 0.01). Comparing to control groups, administration of either EB or EB plus AMPH increased DA level (P < 0.01). The protein expression of striatal DAT was significant greater (P < 0.01) in rats treated with AMPH plus EB than AMPH treated animals. These results suggest that the DA levels in striatum can be enhanced by EB via an increase of DAT expression following administration of AMPH. J. Cell. Biochem. 108: 1318–1324, 2009. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.