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Postnatal hypoxia evokes persistent changes within the male rat's dopaminergic system.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Decker, MJ; Jones, KA; Keating, GL; Rye, DB
Published in: Sleep Breath
May 2018

PURPOSE: Hypoxic insults occurring during the perinatal period remain the leading cause of permanent brain impairment. Severe cognitive and motor dysfunction, as seen in cerebral palsy, will occur in 4-10% of post-hypoxic newborns. Subtle cognitive impairment, apparent in disorders of minimal brain dysfunction will occur in > 3 million post-hypoxic newborns. Analyses of post-hypoxic rodent brains reveal reduced extracellular levels of dopamine, a key neurotransmitter of vigilance, execute function, and behavior. The purpose of this study was to assess whether synaptic levels of dopamine could be enhanced in post-hypoxic, hypodopaminergic rats. METHODS: Newborn male rats were exposed to subtle, repetitive hypoxic insults for 4-6 h per day, during postnatal days 7-11. During adolescence, we quantified dopamine content within the caudate nuclei. We then determined whether extracellular dopamine levels could be increased by injecting the psychostimulant d-amphetamine. We next assessed whether the post-hypoxic rat's response to d-amphetamine would differentially impact place preference behavior when compared with littermate controls. RESULTS: Total tissue content of dopamine was significantly higher in post-hypoxic rats. Injection of d-amphetamine liberated that dopamine which subsequently enhanced extracellular levels. Post-hypoxic rats acquired conditioned place preference for d-amphetamine during the training days. During the testing day, total time spent in the amphetamine-pairing box did not differ between post-hypoxic and control littermates. CONCLUSION: Postnatally occurring hypoxic insults promote remodeling of the dopaminergic system resulting in increased intracellular sequestering of this monoamine. That sequestered dopamine can be released using the psychostimulant d-amphetamine, which did not promote a conditioned place preference any greater than was observed in non-hypoxic littermate controls.

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Published In

Sleep Breath

DOI

EISSN

1522-1709

Publication Date

May 2018

Volume

22

Issue

2

Start / End Page

547 / 554

Location

Germany

Related Subject Headings

  • Respiratory System
  • Rats, Sprague-Dawley
  • Rats
  • Male
  • Hypoxia
  • Dopamine
  • Animals, Newborn
  • Animals
  • Amphetamine
  • 3202 Clinical sciences
 

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Decker, M. J., Jones, K. A., Keating, G. L., & Rye, D. B. (2018). Postnatal hypoxia evokes persistent changes within the male rat's dopaminergic system. Sleep Breath, 22(2), 547–554. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11325-017-1558-6
Decker, Michael J., Karra A. Jones, Glenda L. Keating, and David B. Rye. “Postnatal hypoxia evokes persistent changes within the male rat's dopaminergic system.Sleep Breath 22, no. 2 (May 2018): 547–54. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11325-017-1558-6.
Decker MJ, Jones KA, Keating GL, Rye DB. Postnatal hypoxia evokes persistent changes within the male rat's dopaminergic system. Sleep Breath. 2018 May;22(2):547–54.
Decker, Michael J., et al. “Postnatal hypoxia evokes persistent changes within the male rat's dopaminergic system.Sleep Breath, vol. 22, no. 2, May 2018, pp. 547–54. Pubmed, doi:10.1007/s11325-017-1558-6.
Decker MJ, Jones KA, Keating GL, Rye DB. Postnatal hypoxia evokes persistent changes within the male rat's dopaminergic system. Sleep Breath. 2018 May;22(2):547–554.
Journal cover image

Published In

Sleep Breath

DOI

EISSN

1522-1709

Publication Date

May 2018

Volume

22

Issue

2

Start / End Page

547 / 554

Location

Germany

Related Subject Headings

  • Respiratory System
  • Rats, Sprague-Dawley
  • Rats
  • Male
  • Hypoxia
  • Dopamine
  • Animals, Newborn
  • Animals
  • Amphetamine
  • 3202 Clinical sciences