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. 2012 Jan 5;7(1):e29867. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0029867

Figure 8. Inhibition of TH in VTA is without effect on accumbal DA tissue content.

Figure 8

AMPT (as methyl ester) was unilaterally infused into the midbrain in anesthetized rat. Vehicle was infused in the identical coordinates in the contralateral hemisphere. 90 min following the AMPT infusion, the VTA and core & shell component of nucleus accumbens (NAc) were dissected, segregating the hemispheres. Tissue was homogenized in HPLC buffer and DA was normalized to total protein content in the precipitated pellet. Values (mean±SEM) are expressed as pmols DA per mg protein (VTA-veh, 87±6; VTA-AMPT, 58±4; NAc-ipsiveh, 503±76; NAc-ipsi AMPT, 535±64). Student's paired t-test was used, comparing AMPT-infused hemisphere versus contralateral vehicle-infused hemisphere (n = 3 rats, *p = 0.045, t = 4.55, df = 2).