Neurotransmitter chemistry of lissencephalic cortex induced in ferrets by fetal treatment with methylazoxymethanol acetate

Abstract

Treatment of pregnant ferrets with 15 mg/kg of methylazoxymethanol acetate (MAM) at 33 days of fetal gestation results in offspring with cortical hypoplasia and lissencephally. Neurochemical analysis of 5 areas of cortex from 8-week-old offspring of MAM- or vehicle-treated jills indicated an overall enrichment in markers for catecholaminergic (tyrosine hydroxylase, norepinephrine) and cholinergic (choline acetyltransferase, acetylcholine) terminals but minimal change in the concentration of GABAergic markers (glutamate decarboxylase, [gamma]-aminobutyric acid); however, there did not appear to be a direct, inverse relationship between the concentration of catecholaminergic and cholinergic markers and the degree of hypoplasia in cortical subareas unlike what has been found previously in the rat.