Age-related variations in relative abundance of alternative spliced D2 receptor mRNAs in brain areas of two rat strains

Abstract Age-related reduction in the steady-state levels of messenger RNA for D 2 415 and D 2 444 , the alternatively spliced form of dopamine D 2 receptors, was observed in different rat brain areas using the sensitive reserve transcription (RT)-polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique. In both Sprague-Dawley and Wistar aged rats, the decrease was more pronounced in the D 2 434 isoform mRNA thus leading to a changed ratio in striatum as well as in the hyppocampus.