The effects of reserpine on dopamine (DA) and neurotensin (NT) levels were studied in four different brain regions of the rat. Reserpine (0.5-5.0 mg/kg i.p., 6, 18, 48 and 72 hr) produced a dose- and time-dependent decrease in both DA and NT levels in the prefrontal cortex, a brain region innervated by a mixed DA/NT projection. The effect of reserpine was not mimicked by alpha-methylparatyrosine (200 mg/kg i.p.) pretreatment. Furthermore, the reserpine-induced decline in prefrontal cortex DA and NT levels occurred after gamma-butyrolactone (GBL)-induced inhibition of impulse flow (750 mg/kg i.p.). In contrast, in the nucleus accumbens and striatum, regions which contain colocalized (nucleus accumbens) and intrinsic (striatum and nucleus accumbens) neurotensin perikarya, reserpine produced declines in DA and increases in NT levels. alpha-Methylparatyrosine decreased striatal and nucleus accumbens DA levels without altering NT levels in these structures. GBL produced an increase in DA levels in the nucleus accumbens and striatum while decreasing nucleus accumbens and striatal NT levels. Reserpine attenuated the decline in nucleus accumbens and striatal NT levels produced by GBL. In the periaqueductal grey, a brain region densely innervated by NT which has a small population of DA perikarya, reserpine had no effect on NT levels. Because there is no known colocalization of DA and NT in the striatum, the increases in striatal NT levels after depletion of DA may indicate that striatal DA afferents control the release and/or synthesis of NT within NT cells in the striatum, thus leading to alterations in striatal tissue levels.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)