Physiological Elevations of Glucocorticoids Potentiate Glutamate Accumulation in the Hippocampus

Abstract: Glucocorticoids (GCs) are secreted during stress and can damage the hippocampus over the course of aging and impair the capacity of hippocampal neurons to survive excitotoxic insults. Using microdialysis, we have previously observed that GCs augment the extracellular accumulation of glutamate and aspartate in the hippocampus following kainic acid-induced seizures. In that study, adrenalectomized rats maintained on minimal GC concentrations were compared with those exposed to GCs elevated to near-pharmacological levels. We wished to gain insight into the physiological relevance of these observations. Thus, we have examined the effects of GCs over the normal physiological range on glutamate and aspartate profiles; this was done by implanting adrenalectomized rats with GC-secreting pellets, which produce stable and controllable circulating GC concentrations. We observe that incremental increases in GC concentrations cause incremental increases in glutamate accumulation before the kainic acid insult, as well as in the magnitude of the glutamate response to kainic acid. Elevating GC concentrations from the circadian trough to peak doubled cumulative glutamate accumulation, whereas a rise into the stress range caused a fourfold increase in accumulation. Similar, although smaller, effects also occurred with aspartate accumulation (as well as with taurine but not glutamine accumulation). These data show that the highly elevated GC concentrations that accompany neurological insults such as seizure or hypoxia-ischemia will greatly exacerbate the glutamate accumulation at that time. Furthermore, stress levels of GCs augmented glutamate accumulation even in the absence of an excitotoxic insult, perhaps explaining how sustained stress itself damages the hippocampus. Finally, even the moderately ?levated basal GC concentrations that typically occur in aged rats augmented glutamate accumulation, perhaps explaining how GCs damage the hippocampus over the course of normal aging.     

Effect of Acute Stress on Hippocampal Glutamate Levels and Spectrin Proteolysis in Young and Aged Rats

Abstract: Aging in rats is associated with a loss of hippocampal neurons, which may contribute to age-related cognitive deficits. Several lines of evidence suggest that stress and glucocorticoids may contribute to age-related declines in hippocampal neuronal number. Excitatory amino acids (EAAs) have been implicated in the glucocorticoid endangerment and stress-induced morphological changes of hippocampal neurons of young rats. Previously, we have reported that acute immobilization stress can increase extracellular concentrations of the endogenous excitatory amino acid, glutamate, in the hippocampus. The present study examined the effect of an acute bout of immobilization stress on glutamate levels in the hippocampus and medial prefrontal cortex of young (3–4-month) and aged (22–24-month) Fischer 344 rats. In addition, the effect of stress on spectrin proteolysis in these two brain regions was also examined. Spectrin is a cytoskeleton protein that contributes to neuronal integrity and proteolysis of this protein has been proposed as an important component of EAA-induced neuronal death. There was no difference in basal glutamate levels between young and old rats in the hippocampus or medial prefrontal cortex. During the period of restraint stress a modest increase in glutamate levels in the hippocampus of young and aged rats was observed. After the termination of the stress procedure, hippocampal glutamate concentrations continued to rise in the aged rats, reaching a level approximately five times higher than the young rats, and remained elevated for at least 2 h after the termination of the stress. A similar pattern was also observed in the medial prefrontal cortex with an augmented post-stress-induced glutamate response observed in the aged rats. There was no increase in spectrin proteolysis in the hippocampus or medial prefrontal cortex of young or aged rats after stress or under basal nonstress conditions. The enhanced poststress glutamate response in the aged rats may contribute to the increased sensitivity of aged rats to neurotoxic insults.     

Response of extracellular zinc in the ventral hippocampus against novelty stress

An extensive neuronal activity takes place in the hippocampus during exploratory behavior. However, the role of hippocampal zinc in exploratory behavior is poorly understood. To analyze the response of extracellular zinc in the hippocampus against novelty stress, rats were placed for 50 min in a novel environment once a day for 8 days. Extracellular glutamate in the hippocampus was increased during exploratory behavior on day 1, whereas extracellular zinc was decreased. The same phenomenon was observed during exploratory behavior on day 2 and extracellular zinc had returned to the basal level during exploratory behavior on day 8. To examine the significance of the decrease in extracellular zinc in exploratory activity, exploratory behavior was observed during perfusion with 1 mm CaEDTA, a membrane-impermeable zinc chelator. Locomotor activity in the novel environment was decreased by perfusion with CaEDTA. The decrease in extracellular zinc and the increase in extracellular glutamate in exploratory period were abolished by perfusion with CaEDTA. These results suggest that zinc uptake by hippocampal cells is linked to exploratory activity and is required for the activation of the glutamatergic neurotransmitter system. The zinc uptake may be involved in the response to painless psychological stress or in the cognitive processes.     

Sexual Experience Promotes Adult Neurogenesis in the Hippocampus Despite an Initial Elevation in Stress Hormones

Aversive stressful experiences are typically associated with increased anxiety and a predisposition to develop mood disorders. Negative stress also suppresses adult neurogenesis and restricts dendritic architecture in the hippocampus, a brain region associated with anxiety regulation. The effects of aversive stress on hippocampal structure and function have been linked to stress-induced elevations in glucocorticoids. Normalizing corticosterone levels prevents some of the deleterious consequences of stress, including increased anxiety and suppressed structural plasticity in the hippocampus. Here we examined whether a rewarding stressor, namely sexual experience, also adversely affects hippocampal structure and function in adult rats. Adult male rats were exposed to a sexually-receptive female once (acute) or once daily for 14 consecutive days (chronic) and levels of circulating glucocorticoids were measured. Separate cohorts of sexually experienced rats were injected with the thymidine analog bromodeoxyuridine in order to measure cell proliferation and neurogenesis in the hippocampus. In addition, brains were processed using Golgi impregnation to assess the effects of sexual experience on dendritic spines and dendritic complexity in the hippocampus. Finally, to evaluate whether sexual experience alters hippocampal function, rats were tested on two tests of anxiety-like behavior: novelty suppressed feeding and the elevated plus maze. We found that acute sexual experience increased circulating corticosterone levels and the number of new neurons in the hippocampus. Chronic sexual experience no longer produced an increase in corticosterone levels but continued to promote adult neurogenesis and stimulate the growth of dendritic spines and dendritic architecture. Chronic sexual experience also reduced anxiety-like behavior. These findings suggest that a rewarding experience not only buffers against the deleterious actions of early elevated glucocorticoids but actually promotes neuronal growth and reduces anxiety.     

Formation of gamma-aminobutyric acid from glutamate and putrescine in rat hypothalamic and hippocampal synaptosomes and regulation of these processes by glucocorticoids]

It has been shown that single or multiple hydrocortisone and ACTH administrations to intact rats increased GABA content and its synthesis from glutamate and putrescine in synaptosomes of hypothalamus. The letter content was increased by single hormonal administration while multiple hormonal administration and adrenalectomy decreased it. Ornithine decarboxylase activity was increased by single hydrocortisone administration to intact animals, following adrenalectomy, and it was decreased by single hormonal administration to adrenalectomized rats. GABA synthesis in synaptosomes of hippocampus from putrescine was increased by single hydrocortisone and multiple hormonal administrations. GABA content was increased by multiple administration of both hormones and was decreased by adrenalectomy. Putrescine level was decreased by multiple hydrocortisone administration to intact and single administration to adrenalectomized rats; ornithine decarboxylase activity was decreased by multiple administration of both hormones.     

Glucocorticoids Exacerbate Kainic Acid–Induced Extracellular Accumulation of Excitatory Amino Acids in the Rat Hippocampus

Glucocorticoids (GCs) compromise the ability of hippocampal neurons to survive various insults, and do so, at least in part, by exacerbating steps in the glutamate/N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA)/calcium cascade of damage. As evidence, GCs impair uptake of glutamate by hippocampal astrocytes, the GC endangerment of the hippocampus is NMDA receptor dependent, and GCs exacerbate kainic acid (KA)-induced calcium mobilization. These observations predict that GCs should also exacerbate KA-induced accumulation of extracellular glutamate and aspartate. To test this, adrenalectomized rats were given replacement GCs in either the low or high physiological range. Three days later, rats were anesthetized and 1 mM KA was infused through a dialysis probe placed in the dorsal hippocampus. Extracellular amino acid concentrations in the dialysate were then assessed by HPLC. After KA infusion, high-GC rats (30 +/- 3 micrograms/dl) had significantly elevated concentrations of glutamate and aspartate compared with low-GC rats (all less than 0.95 micrograms/dl). The glutamate accumulation was due to GCs raising pre-KA concentrations, whereas the aspartate accumulation was due to GCs exacerbating the KA-induced rise. Glutamine concentrations were unaffected by KA, whereas the high-GC regimen elevated glutamine concentrations both before and after KA. Taurine concentrations rose after infusion of KA, but were unaffected by GC regime, whereas alanine concentrations were unaffected by either manipulation. Serine concentrations were unaffected by KA, but were depressed both before and after KA in high-GC rats.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Corticosterone regulates calbindin-D28k mRNA and protein levels in rat hippocampus

Corticosterone was administered to normal and bilaterally adrenalectomized rats (250-300 g), and hormonal regulation of brain calbindin-D28k (CaBP28k) levels was investigated by radioimmunoassay for CaBP28k protein and by slot and Northern blot analyses for CaBP28k mRNA. The specificity of the changes observed in CaBP28k mRNA levels was tested by reprobing blots with calmodulin and B-actin cDNAs. Rats were either adrenalectomized, adrenalectomized treated with corticosterone, intact, or intact treated with corticosterone. Chronic corticosterone administration (subcutaneous injection for 7 days, 10 mg/day) to normal intact rats significantly increased levels of CaBP28k immunoreactivity (43%) and mRNA (125%) in the hippocampus. Adrenalectomy (animals were killed 7 days after adrenalectomy) produced a significant decrease in hippocampal CaBP28k immunoreactivity (85%) and mRNA (80%) compared with intact controls. Immunocytochemical analysis of tissue sections inducated a marked depletion of CaBP28k immunoreactivity in the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus 2 weeks after adrenalectomy. When adrenalectomized rats were treated with corticosterone (10 mg/day for 7 days), CaBP28k protein and mRNA levels in hippocampus were restored to levels observed in intact controls. No changes in CaBP28k protein and mRNA in kidney, cerebellum, striatum, or cerebral cortex were noted in adrenalectomized rats or in intact rats treated with corticosterone when compared with controls, indicating the specificity of the effect on CaBP28k for the hippocampus. These studies present the first evidence of a regulator of CaBP28k gene expression in the brain.     

Impairment of GABAergic neurotransmitter system in the amygdala of young rats after 4-week zinc deprivation

On the basis of the evidence that the excitability of hippocampal glutamatergic neurotransmitter system is enhanced by dietary zinc deficiency, the response of amygdalar neurotransmitter system was checked in young rats fed a zinc-deficient diet for 4 weeks. Extracellular zinc concentration in the amygdala, which was measured by the in vivo microdialysis, was almost the same as that in the hippocampus and decreased by zinc deficiency. Extracellular zinc concentration in the amygdala was increased both in the control and zinc-deficient rats by stimulation with 100 mM KCl, suggesting that the increase in extracellular zinc in the amygdala, as well as that in the hippocampus, is linked with neuronal depolarization. In amygdalar extracellular fluid, the basal glutamate concentration was not significantly different between the control and zinc-deficient rats and was increased to almost the same extent between them by stimulation with 100 mM KCl, unlike more increase in extracellular glutamate concentration in the hippocampus in zinc deficiency. On the other hand, the basal GABA concentration in the amygdalar extracellular fluid was significantly lower in zinc-deficient rats and was not increased both in the control and zinc-deficient rats by stimulation with 100 mM KCl. These results suggest that GABAergic neurotransmitter system is critically impaired in the amygdala of young rats after 4-week zinc deprivation.     

Glucocorticoids exacerbate the deleterious effects of gp120 in hippocampal and cortical explants

Glucocorticoids (GCs), the adrenal steroids secreted during stress, can compromise the ability of hippocampal neurons to survive numerous necrotic insults. We have previously observed that GCs worsen the deleterious effects of gp120, the glycoprotein of the acquired immune deficiency syndrome virus, which can indirectly damage neurons and which is thought to play a role in the neuropathological features of human immunodeficiency virus infection. Specifically, GCs augment gp120-induced calcium mobilization, ATP depletion, decline in mitochondrial potential, and neurotoxicity in fetal monolayer cultures from a number of brain regions. In the present report, we demonstrate a similar gp120/GC synergy in adult hippocampal and cortical explants. We generated explants from rats that were either adrenalectomized, adrenally intact, or intact and treated with corticosterone to produce levels seen in response to major stressors. Metabolic rates in explants were then indirectly assessed with silicon microphysiometry, and cytosolic calcium concentrations were assessed with fura-2 fluorescent microscopy. We observed that basal levels of GCs tonically augment the disruptive effects of gp120 on metabolism in the CA1 cell field of the hippocampus and in the cortex. Moreover, raising GC concentrations into the stress range exacerbated the ability of gp120 to mobilize cytosolic calcium in a number of hippocampal cell fields. Finally, we observed that the synthetic GC prednisone had similarly exacerbating effects on gp120. Thus, GCs can worsen the deleterious effects of gp120 in a system that is more physiologically relevant than the fetal monolayer culture and in a region-specific manner.     

Stress Preferentially Increases Extraneuronal Levels of Excitatory Amino Acids in the Prefrontal Cortex: Comparison to Hippocampus and Basal Ganglia

Abstract: The technique of intracerebral microdialysis was used to assess the effect of stress on the extracellular concentrations of excitatory amino acids, glutamate and aspartate, in the rat medial prefrontal cortex, hippocampus, striatum, and nucleus accumbens. A 20-min restraint procedure led to an increase in extracellular glutamate in all regions tested. The increase in glutamate levels was significantly higher in the prefrontal cortex than that observed in other regions. With the exception of the striatum, extracellular levels of aspartate were increased in all regions. Furthermore, the increase in aspartate levels was significantly higher in prefrontal cortex compared to hippocampus and nucleus accumbens. Local perfusion of tetrodotoxin during the restraint procedure significantly decreased the stress-induced increase in extracellular excitatory amino acids. In order to ensure that the above results were not an artifact of restraint not associated with stress (e.g., decreased mobility), we also examined the effect of swimming stress on the extracellular levels of excitatory amino acids in selected regions, i.e., striatum and medial prefrontal cortex. Both regions displayed a significant increase in extracellular levels of aspartate and glutamate following 20 min of swimming in room temperature water. This study provides direct evidence that stress increases the neuronal release of excitatory amino acids in a regionally selective manner. The implications of the present findings for stress-induced catecholamine release and/or hippocampal degeneration are discussed.     

Alterations in response of rat white adipocytes to insulin, noradrenaline, corticotropin and glucagon after adrenalectomy. Correction of these changes by adenosine deaminase.

1. Adipocytes isolated from rats 6--9 days after adrenalectomy had significantly increased sensitivity to insulin action against noradrenaline-stimulated lipolysis. In the presence of adenosine deaminase there was no significant difference in insulin sensitivity between cells from adrenalectomized and sham-operated rats. 2. Adipocytes from adrenalectomized rats had decreased lipolytic responses to all concentrations of noradrenaline and glucagon tested and a decreased lipolytic response to low but not high concentrations of corticotropin. There was no difference in lipolytic response to theophylline after adrenalectomy. Adenosine deaminase corrected the differences in response to noradrenaline and glucagon resulting from adrenalectomy. 3. In the presence of adenosine deaminase rates of lipolysis, after stimulation by high concentrations of noradrenaline, glucagon, corticotropin or theophylline, were the same in cells from adrenalectomized or sham-operated rats. 4. These findings and previously reported effects of adenosine and adrenalectomy on adipocyte function are discussed. It is proposed that changes in adipocyte hormone responsiveness after adrenalectomy may result from changes in adenosine metabolism or release.     

Repeated Restraint Stress Alters Hippocampal Glutamate Uptake and Release in the Rat

Glutamatergic mechanisms are thought to be involved in stress-induced changes of brain function, especially in the hippocampus. We hypothesized that alterations caused by the hormonal changes associated with chronic and acute stress may affect glutamate uptake and release from hippocampal synaptosomes in Wistar rats. It was found that [3H]glutamate uptake and release by hippocampal nerve endings, when measured 24 h after 1 h of acute restraint, presented no significant difference. The exposure to repeated restraint stress for 40 days increased neuronal presynaptic [3H]glutamate uptake as well as basal and K+-stimulated glutamate release when measured 24 h after the last stress session. Chronic treatment also caused a significant decrease in [3H]glutamate binding to hippocampal membranes. We suggest that changes in the glutamatergic system are likely to take part in the mechanisms involved in nervous system plasticity following repeated stress exposure.     

Facilitation of zinc influx via AMPA/kainate receptor activation in the hippocampus

Glutamate and zinc is co-released by excitation of hippocampal mossy fibers and both concentrations are increased in the extracellular compartment. In a novel environment, however, extracellular zinc is persistently decreased in spite of the increase in extracellular glutamate. The mechanism of the decrease in extracellular zinc was studied in the present paper. In rats subjected to the novelty stress under hippocampal perfusion, the differential changes in extracellular glutamate and zinc were abolished in the presence of 1 μM tetrodotoxin (TTX), a sodium channel blocker, which reduced exploratory behavior. When the hippocampus was perfused with corticosterone (50 ng/ml), extracellular zinc was increased. These results suggest that glutamatergic neuron activation elicited by novelty stress is involved in the decrease in extracellular zinc and that glucocorticoid is not a trigger for its decrease. The differential changes in extracellular glutamate and zinc was induced by electrical stimulation to analyze the decrease in extracellular zinc; the differential changes were elicited by delivery of tetanic stimuli (100 Hz for 1 s, 5 min intervals, three times) to the hippocampus instead of the novelty stress, as reported previously. The changes elicited by tetanic stimulation were abolished in the presence of 10 μM CNQX, an AMPA/kainate receptor antagonist. In a hippocampal slice double-labeled with zinc and calcium indicators, furthermore, CNQX inhibited the increase in intracellular zinc levels in mossy fiber synapses after delivery of tetanic stimuli (100 Hz for 5 s) to dentate granule cells. The in vivo and in vitro experiments suggest that AMPA/kainate receptor activation is involved in zinc influx into hippocampal cells, followed by the decrease in extracellular zinc. It is likely that zinc influx is persistently facilitated via stress-induced glutamatergic neuron activation.     

gamma-Hydroxybutyrate modulation of glutamate levels in the hippocampus: an in vivo and in vitro study

The effect of gamma-hydroxybutyric acid on extracellular glutamate levels in the hippocampus was studied by microdialysis in freely moving rats and in isolated hippocampal synaptosomes. Intra-hippocampal (CA1) perfusion with gamma-hydroxybutyric acid (10 nM-1 mM) concentration-dependently influenced glutamate levels: gamma-hydroxybutyric acid (100 and 500 nM) increased glutamate levels; 100 and 300 microM concentrations were ineffective; whereas the highest 1 mM concentration reduced local glutamate levels. The stimulant effect of gamma-hydroxybutyric acid (100 nM) was suppressed by the locally co-perfused gamma-hydroxybutyric acid receptor antagonist NCS-382 (10 microM) but not by the GABA(B) receptor antagonist CGP-35348 (500 microM). Furthermore, the gamma-hydroxybutyric acid (1 mM)-induced reduction in CA1 glutamate levels was counteracted by NCS-382 (10 microM), and it was also reversed into an increase by CGP-35348. Given alone, neither NCS-382 nor CGP-35348 modified glutamate levels. In hippocampal synaptosomes, gamma-hydroxybutyric acid (50 and 100 nM) enhanced both the spontaneous and K(+)-evoked glutamate efflux, respectively, both effects being counteracted by NCS-382 (100 nM), but not by CGP-35348 (100 microM). These findings indicate that gamma-hydroxybutyric acid exerts a concentration-dependent regulation of hippocampal glutamate transmission via two opposing mechanisms, whereby a direct gamma-hydroxybutyric acid receptor mediated facilitation is observed at nanomolar gamma-hydroxybutyric acid concentrations, and an indirect GABA(B) receptor mediated inhibition predominates at millimolar concentrations.     

Chronic Stress and Lithium Treatments Alter Hippocampal Glutamate Uptake and Release in the Rat and Potentiate Necrotic Cellular Death After Oxygen and Glucose Deprivation

This study was undertaken to evaluate the effects of chronic variate stress and lithium treatment on glutamatergic activity and neuronal vulnerability of rat hippocampus. Male Wistar rats were simultaneously treated with lithium and submitted to a chronic variate stress protocol during 40?days, and afterwards the hippocampal glutamatergic uptake and release, measured in slices and synaptosomes, were evaluated. We observed an increased synaptosomal [(3)H]glutamate uptake and an increase in [(3)H]glutamate stimulated release in hippocampus of lithium-treated rats. Chronic stress increased basal [(3)H]glutamate release by synaptosomes, and decreased [(3)H]glutamate uptake in hippocampal slices. When evaluating cellular vulnerability, both stress and lithium increased cellular death after oxygen and glucose deprivation (OGD). We suggest that the manipulation of glutamatergic activity induced by stress may be in part responsible for the neuroendangerment observed after stress exposure, and that, in spite of the described neuroprotective effects of lithium, it increased the neuronal vulnerability after OGD.     

Effect of ionotropic glutamate receptors antagonists on the modifications in extracellular glutamate and aspartate levels during picrotoxin seizures: a microdialysis study in freely moving rats

Our previous studies have shown a local decrease in glutamate and aspartate levels during seizures, induced by picrotoxin microdialysis in the hippocampus of chronic freely moving rats. In this paper, we study the effect of continuous hippocampal microperfusion of the NMDA, AMPA and kainate glutamate receptor inhibitors 5-methyl-10,11-dihydro-5H-dibenzo[a,d]cyclohepten-5, 10-imine (MK-801); 6,7-dinitroquinoxaline-2,3-dione (DNQX), and 1-(4-aminophenyl)-4-methyl-7,8-methylenedioxy-5H-2,3-benzodiazepine hydrochloride (GYKI 52466). We also examine the action of L(-)-threo-3-hydroxyaspartic acid (THA), a glutamate and aspartate reuptake blocker, on the modification of extracellular glutamate and aspartate levels induced by picrotoxin, using the microdialysis method in freely moving rats. We found that changes in extracellular hippocampal concentrations in both amino acids are prevented by NMDA, AMPA and kainate receptor inhibitors. Seizures elicited under DNQX also induce a transient increase in aspartate extracellular levels coincident with seizure time. L(-)-threo-3-hydroxyaspartic acid increased the basal extracellular concentrations of both amino acids, but did not prevent the seizure-related decrease. Our results suggest that glutamate, the major neurotransmitter at the synaptic level, may also play an important role in non-synaptic transmission during seizures.     

Response of hippocampal mossy fiber zinc to excessive glutamate release

The response of hippocampal mossy fiber zinc to excessive glutamate release was examined to understand the role of the zinc in excessive excitation in the hippocampus. Extracellular zinc and glutamate concentrations during excessive stimulation with high K(+) were compared between the hippocampal CA3 and CA1 by the in vivo microdialysis. Zinc concentration in the CA3 was more increased than that in the CA1, while glutamate concentration in the CA3 was less increased than that in the CA1. It is likely that more increase in extracellular zinc is linked with less increase in extracellular glutamate in the CA3. To see zinc action in mossy fiber synapses during excessive excitation, furthermore, 1mM glutamate was regionally delivered to the stratum lucidum in the presence of zinc or CaEDTA, a membrane-impermeable zinc chelator, and intracellular calcium signal was measured in the CA3 pyramidal cell layer. The persistent increase in calcium signal during stimulation with glutamate was significantly attenuated in the presence of 100 microM zinc, while significantly enhanced in the presence of 1mM CaEDTA. These results suggest that zinc released from mossy fibers attenuates the increase in intracellular calcium signal in mossy fiber synapses and postsynaptic CA3 neurons after excessive inputs to dentate granular cells.     

Output, Tissue Levels, and Synthesis of Acetylcholine During and After Transient Forebrain Ischemia in the Rat

Biochemical changes in the rat brain cholinergic system during and after 60 min of ischemia were studied using a four-vessel occlusion model. Extracellular acetylcholine (ACh) concentrations in the unanesthetized rat hippocampus markedly increased during ischemia and reached a peak (about 13.5 times baseline levels) at 5-10 min after the onset of ischemia. At 2-5 h after reperfusion, extracellular ACh concentrations were reduced to 64-72% of the levels of controls. ACh levels in the hippocampus, striatum, and cortex decreased significantly during ischemia and exceeded their control values just after reperfusion. A significant increase in hippocampal ACh level after 2 days of reperfusion and a decrease in [14C]ACh synthesis from [14C]glucose in hippocampal slices excised at 2 days after reperfusion were observed. The extracellular concentrations and tissue levels of choline markedly increased after ischemia. These results show that ACh is markedly released into the extracellular space in the hippocampus during ischemia, and they suggest that ACh synthesis is activated just after reperfusion and that cholinergic activity is reduced after 2-48 h of reperfusion in the hippocampus.     

Effects of venlafaxine on extracellular 5-HT,dopamine and noradrenaline in the hippocampus and on peripheral hormone concentrations in the rat in vivo

The purpose of the present study was to study the effect of an acute dose of the serotonin (5-HT) - noradrenaline (NA) reuptake inhibitor venlafaxine on extracellular concentrations of 5-HT, NA and dopamine (DA) in the hippocampus and on the peripheral hormone concentrations in freely moving rats. Blood obtained from a catheter placed in the vena femoralis was analyzed for adrenocorticotropin (ACTH), beta-endorphins, prolactin (PRL), growth hormone (GH) and cortisol. Collections are referred to pre and post injection of 20 mg/kg of venlafaxine. Extracellular hippocampal NA and 5-HT as determined with in vivo microdialysis increased significantly after drug injection. PRL and ACTH were significantly affected by the drug. At the selected dose venlafaxine is able to increase the release of 5-HT but also of NA in rat hippocampus. Due to the dual reuptake properties of the drug and the functional interconnection of the NA and the 5-HT systems, the observed effects on peripheral hormones are possibly mediated by a combined action of these 2 systems.     

In vivo co-ordinated interactions between inhibitory systems to control glutamate-mediated hippocampal excitability

We present an overview of the long-term adaptation of hippocampal neurotransmission to cholinergic and GABAergic deafferentation caused by excitotoxic lesion of the medial septum. Two months after septal microinjection of 2.7 nmol alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methylisoxazole-4-propionate (AMPA), a 220% increase of GABA(A) receptor labelling in the hippocampal CA3 and the hilus was shown, and also changes in hippocampal neurotransmission characterised by in vivo microdialysis and HPLC. Basal amino acid and purine extracellular levels were studied in control and lesioned rats. In vivo effects of 100 mm KCl perfusion and adenosine A(1) receptor blockade with 1,3-dipropyl-8-cyclopentylxanthine (DPCPX) on their release were also investigated. In lesioned animals GABA, glutamate and glutamine basal levels were decreased and taurine, adenosine and uric acid levels increased. A similar response to KCl infusion occurred in both groups except for GABA and glutamate, which release decreased in lesioned rats. Only in lesioned rats, DPCPX increased GABA basal level and KCl-induced glutamate release, and decreased glutamate turnover. Our results evidence that an excitotoxic septal lesion leads to increased hippocampal GABA(A) receptors and decreased glutamate neurotransmission. In this situation, a co-ordinated response of hippocampal retaliatory systems takes place to control neuron excitability.