Intrastriatal dendrotoxin injection: behavioral and neurochemical effects.

Unilateral striatal injection of dendrotoxin (DTX), a polypeptide isolated from the venom of the snake Dendroaspis angusticeps, in rats provoked a complex behavioral syndrome characterized by spontaneous circling towards the contralateral side, stereotypic like chewing movements and gnawing, abnormal postures and convulsions. All these symptoms achieved their maximum on the first day, disappearing during the first week after injection. Neurochemical analyses of striatal monoamines and monoamine metabolites showed a significant increase of dopamine and serotonin metabolites 20 hr after DTX injection. A group of animals sacrificed 15 days after toxin administration showed normal levels of monoamines and their metabolites, except for homovanillic acid levels which were still significantly increased. These data indicate that monoamines are involved in the behavioral syndrome elicited by DTX and are possibly related to its excitatory effect upon brain structures in vivo.