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. 2010 Feb 2;133(2):496–511. doi: 10.1093/brain/awp314

Figure 5.

Figure 5

Measurement of tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4) (A) and DOPA (B) levels in striatal tissue using HPLC with electrochemical detection after rAAV-mediated TH + GCH1 gene transfer. In the intact striatum, BH4 levels averaged ∼1 pmol/mg in the intact striatum (open bars in A). Depletion of the dopamine afferents to the striatum alone reduced BH4 levels by 85%, while the combination with a 5,7-DHT lesion caused a >98% reduction. TH + GCH1 delivery resulted in complete recovery to normal levels (solid bars in A). Striatal DOPA levels were below detection limit (<0005 pmol) in the intact rat striatum and just at the detection range in the lesioned striatum (open bars in B). The rAAV TH + GCH1 gene transfer induced an accumulation of ∼8 pmol/mg, which was not affected by the 5,7-DHT lesion. Statistics: Two-way ANOVA, (A) Side F(1,68) = 23.37, P < 0.001; group F(5, 68) = 39.3, P < 0.001; side × group F(5,68) = 36.15, P < 0.001. (B) Side F(1,68) = 57.54, P < 0.001; group F(5,68) = 26.29, P < 0.001; side × group F(5,68) = 26.29, P < 0.001. One-way ANOVA contralateral side not significant. Ipsilateral side: (A) F(5,34) = 38.340, P < 0.001; (B) F(5,34) = 26.292, P < 0.001, followed by Dunnett’s T3 post hoc test and Bonferroni-corrected paired t-tests for within-group comparisons Asterisk indicates different from contralateral side, hash indicates different from ipsilateral side of intact control group. 5-HT = serotonin; DA = dopamine.