Effect of haloperidol and apomorphine treatment on dopamine receptors in pituitary and striatum

Prompted by an interest in the similarity of brain and tuberoinfundibular systems, the authors studied butaclamol-specific neuroleptic and apomorphine binding in pituitary and striatum after chronic haloperidol and acute apomorphine treatment. Striatal binding increases but pituitary binding decreases in haloperidol-treated rats. Pituitary binding changes rapidly in response to apomorphine exposure and striatal binding does not. These findings suggest that factors influencing binding differ in these two tissues.