Effect of intracerebroventricularly injection sodium nitroprusside on rat’s stereotypy locomotor

ObjectiveTo investigate the effects of the NO on amphetamine-induced stereotypy in rats. MethodsThis study was divided into 2 parts-acute intracerebroventricularly injection (icv.) administration of amphetamine or administration of sodium nitroprusside. With the method of behavioral recordings of stereotypy,the animals were observed during 60-minute sessions by trained observers who were blind to the experimental condition. The contents of NO in brains were measured while the induction of stereotypy. Results We found that icv. of amphetamine (50μg、100μg and 200μg) may induce an increase scores of stereotypy( P 0.05).Compared with control group (7.5±3.79), it was found there was a significant increase in stereotypy by icv. sodium nitroprusside of 5μg (12.33±5.20, P 0.05),10μg (15.44±5.77, P 0.05) and 20μg (22.00±4.95, P 0.05 ). At the same time, there was also a significant raise of the contents of NO in the rat’s striatum, brain stem and cerebral cortex when the stereotypy was induced. ConclusionAmphetamine or sodium nitroprusside may induce stereotypy in rats, and nitric oxide may be involved in the stereotypy of various models of psychosis such as Tourette's syndrome.