Intracerebral grafting of neuronal cell suspensions. IV. Behavioural recovery in rats with unilateral 6-OHDA lesions following implantation of nigral cell suspensions in different forebrain sites.

Single and multiple implants of nigral cell suspensions were grafted to the forebrains of rats with unilateral 6-hydroxydopamine-induced dopamine denervations. Control lesions alone induced a marked behavioural asymmetry, as assessed by amphetamine- and apomorphine-induced rotation, sensorimotor tests and side bias in an unbaited T-maze, and the animals were hyperactive to a low dose of apomorphine. Single suspension placements into different denervated striatal regions were capable of reversing the behavioural asymmetries dependent upon the specific placement for each test. Multiple suspension grafts were capable of reversing all behavioural asymmetries, and additionally abolished the supersensitive hyperactivity to apomorphine. By contrast, single suspension grafts placed into the substantia nigra or lateral hypothalamus had no detectable effect on any functional measure. The results indicate that nigral suspension grafts can be at least as effective as solid grafts in reversing the functional deficits induced by dopamine denervation, provided that placements are selected within appropriate dopamine terminal regions of the forebrain (e.g. caudate-putamen or nucleus accumbens).