Clothianidin, a neonicotinoid insecticide, activates α4β2, α7 and muscarinic receptors to induce in vivo dopamine release from rat striatum.

Clothianidin (CLO) is a neonicotinoid insecticide that produces toxic effects in experimental animals and humans. These effects are associated primarily to its action as a nicotinic agonist, acting on insect and vertebrate nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs), but little is known about the mechanisms of action on the mammalian nervous system. In the rat striatum, CLO induces increases in the dopamine overflow in a concentration-dependent manner.