Dopamine may contribute to the loss of dopamine neurons in Parkinson's disease by generating reactive oxygen species and quinones. A previous report from this laboratory showed that intrastriatal injection of dopamine resulted in the selective reduction of tyrosine hydroxylase immunoreactivity, accompanied by an increase in indices of dopamine oxidation. However, conclusive proof that decreased tyrosine hydroxylase immunoreactivity represented a loss of dopamine terminals was lacking. In this paper, we demonstrate that injection of dopamine results in a selective loss of dopamine terminals by (i) showing that immunoreactivity for another selective marker for dopamine terminals, the dopamine transporter, is also reduced; and (ii) that amino-cupric-silver stain reveals terminal degeneration within the area of selective loss of dopamine terminals. To determine the dopamine concentration that is selectively toxic to dopamine terminals, we examined changes in extracellular dopamine and 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid in the area of selective terminal loss following intrastriatal dopamine. Dopamine and 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid in this region reached peak levels 1-2h after the injection, and then returned towards baseline. The peak level of dopamine in the area of selective dopamine terminal damage was 10(2)-10(3)-fold lower than the injected concentration. Changes in striatal tissue levels of cysteinyl-catechols and glutathione were examined at 2, 4, 8, and 24h after intrastriatal dopamine. Levels of protein cysteinyl-dopamine and cysteinyl-3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid were increased at all time-points following the dopamine injection. High levels of free cysteinyl-catechols and glutathione-dopamine were detected within 2h after the dopamine injection. Glutathione levels were decreased significantly at 4 and 8h after the injection of dopamine, and returned to control levels by 24h. These data indicate that dopamine terminals actively degenerate following a single intrastriatal injection of dopamine, and furthermore that oxidative stress plays a key role in this process. As oxidative stress is thought to play an active role in the pathobiology of Parkinson's disease, these data may be relevant to our understanding of the disorder.