It is demonstrated that bromantane induces a pronounced and prolonged (8 h) increase in the release of dopanime. Tetrodotoxin (10 .6 M) perfused via a microdialysis probe partially inhibits the bromantane-induced release of dopamine. The extracellular content of the dopamine metabolites 3,4-dioxyphenylacetic and homovanillic acids is slightly decreased. The possible mechanisms of action of bromantane on the dopamin-and serotoninergic systems of the brain are discussed.Key Words: psychostimulators; bromantane; dopamine, striatum, microdialysisis a new immunostimulating drug [3] with psychoactivating and adaptogenic properties [5][6][7]. Its mechanism of action has not been studied in sufficient detail. The dopaminergic and serotoninergic systems play an important role in the realization of the effects of adamantane derivatives [1,2,4,8,11,12,14]. In a concentration range of 50-500 ~M bromantane notably reduces serotonin reuptake by rat brain synaptosomes, inhibiting to a lesser exteat the reuptake of dopamine. The fact that bromantane eliminates catalepsy induced by haloperidol and tryphtazin indicates that the dopaminand serotoninergic brain structures play an instrumental role in the the pharmacological effect of bromantane. From this viewpoint, a detailed examination of the effect of bromantane on the function of these two neurotransmitter brain systems is of undoubted interest.Our objective was to examine the effect of bromantane on the release of dopamine and to measure by intracerebral dialysis the extracellular content of the bromantane metabolites 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic and homovanillic acids, DOPAC and HVA, in the dorsal striatum of the brain of freely moving rats [10]. The method of intracerebral dialysis makes it possible to evaluate the state of a particular neurotransmitter system while preserving the brain neuroregulatory mechanisms.
MATERIALS AND METHODSExperiments were performed on male Wistar rats weighing 200-250 g. The animals were anesthetized with chloralhydrate (400 mg/kg intraperitoneally) and were placed in a stereotaxic apparatus (David Kopf Instruments). A dialysis membrane (the length of membrane exposure relative to the bregma was 10 ram, outer diameter was 0.32 ram,