Responses in the First or Second Somatosensory Cortical Area in Cats during Transient Inactivation of the Other Ipsilateral Area with Lidocaine Hydrochloride

Simultaneous recordings were obtained from the primary and secondary somatosensory cortical areas (SI and SII) in cats anesthetized with ketamine or pentobarbital. A total of 40 individual neurons were studied (29 in SII and 11 in SI) before, during, and following injections of microliter quantities of lidocaine hydrochloride in the other ipsilateral cortical area. Activity in the cortex injected with the local anesthetic was monitored with single-neuron, multi-neuron, or evoked potential responses to determine the time course of inactivation within 0.5-2 mm of the injection sites. Recording sites in both cortical locations were in the representations of the distal forelimb. Responses were elicited by transcutaneous electrical stimulation across the receptive fields with needle electrodes. Short-latency responses were synchronously activated, and, in those circumstances where single neurons were isolated in both areas, no overall differences in latency were noted. Anesthetization of either cortical area never blocked access of somatosensory information to the intact area, even when the injected cortex was completely silenced in the vicinity of the injection mass. In 15 SII neurons and 7 SI neurons, changes were seen in short-latency evoked responses to stimulation of their receptive fields or in background activity following local anesthesia of the other area through several cycles of injection and recovery. In 7 of these 15 SII cells, changes were noted in the timing and/or firing rates of the short-latency responses; changes were noted in the short-latency responses of 2 of these 7 SI cells while SII was silenced. In 11 SII and 6 SI cells, “background” activity that was recorded during the interstimulus intervals either increased (most cases) or decreased during local anesthesia of the other area. The results are discussed in reference to the hypothesis that primary sensory cortical areas feed information forward to secondary areas, and these feed back modulatory controls to the primary regions.     

Effect of thiopental, propofol, and etomidate on vincristine toxicity in PC12 cells

Neurotoxicity is the dose-limiting side-effect of vincristine in cancer therapy. Using the nerve growth factor (NGF)-dependent neurite outgrowth and cell proliferation of the PC12 pheochromocytoma cell line as an in vitroassay, the protective effect of different intravenous anesthetics was assessed. Vincristine (1 nmol/L) significantly decreased the percentage of neurite-forming cells from 68%±9% to 27%±7% within a 3-day incubation period. The longer neurites (>2× cell body) in particular proved to be extremely sensitive to vincristine (from 17%±4% to 0% of total neurite-expressing cells). Flow cytometry results revealed an S-phase percentage of 15.85%±3.25% after NGF induction, with vincristine reducing this percentage to 0.68%±0.38%. Reversal of the inhibitory effect of vincristine was noted in the cells treated with thiopental or propofol but not etomidate. Bicuculline partially antagonized the protective effect of thiopental and propofol in both studies. We conclude that thiopental and propofol, but not etomidate, have a protective effect in vincristine-induced neurotoxicity. The protective effect produced by thiopental and propofol is probably secondary to activation of GABA_Areceptors. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Calcium imaging of epileptiform events with single‐cell resolution

Epileptic discharges propagate through apparently normal circuits, although it is still unclear how this recruitment takes place. To understand the role of different classes of neurons in neocortical epilepsy, we have developed a novel imaging assay that detects which neurons participate in epileptiform discharges. Using calcium imaging of neuronal populations during bicuculline‐induced spontaneous epileptiform events in slices from juvenile mouse somatosensory cortex, we find that fast calcium transients correlate with epileptiform field potentials and intracellular depolarizing shifts and can be used as an optical signature that a given neuron has participated in an epileptiform event. Our results demonstrate a novel method to characterize epileptiform events with single‐cell resolution. In addition, our data are consistent with an important role for layer 5 in generating neocortical seizures and indicate that subgroups of neurons are particularly prone to epileptiform recruitment. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Neurobiol 48: 215–227, 2001     

荷包牡丹碱对垂体前叶组织块释放促肾上腺皮质激素的刺激效应

本实验利用垂体组织块离体灌流技术,观察到－氨基丁酸Ａ受体拮抗剂荷包牡丹碱对切除双侧肾上腺９６ｈ后的大鼠垂体前叶ＡＣＴＨ的分泌具有强烈的刺激作用。但同样浓度的荷包牡丹碱对分离的垂体前叶细胞的ＡＣＴＨ分泌无影响。提示肾上腺切除后,－氨基丁酸在垂体前叶直接或通过间接途径抑制ＡＣＴＨ分泌。     

Microdialysis measures of functional increases in ACh release in the hippocampus with and without inclusion of acetylcholinesterase inhibitors in the perfusate

Because brain extracellular acetylcholine (ACh) levels are near detection limits in microdialysis samples, an acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitor such as neostigmine is often added to microdialysis perfusates to increase ACh levels in the dialysate, a practice that raises concerns that the inhibitor might alter the results. Two experiments compared functional differences in ACh release with and without neostigmine. In the first experiment, 30-60% increases in extracellular ACh concentrations in the hippocampus were evident during food-rewarded T-maze training with 20-500 nm neostigmine in the perfusate but no increases were seen without neostigmine. In the second experiment, 78% increases in ACh release in the hippocampus were seen after injections of the GABA(A) receptor antagonist, bicuculline, into medial septum only if neostigmine (50 nm) was included in the perfusate. These findings suggest that, in the hippocampus, endogenous brain AChEs are very efficient at removing extracellular ACh, obscuring differences in ACh release in these experiments. Therefore, inclusion of AChE inhibitors in the microdialysis perfusate may be necessary under some conditions for observations of functional changes in release of ACh in the hippocampus.     

Effects of GABA antagonists,SR 95531 and bicuculline,on GABAA receptor-regulated chloride flux in rat cortical synaptoneurosomes

Synaptoneurosomes isolated from cerebral cortices of male Sprague-Dawley rats were used for studying GABA_A receptor-regulated chloride influx. The in vitro effects of GABA antagonists, SR 95531 (a pyridazinyl GABA derivative) and bicuculline, on pentobarbital-stimulated, muscimol-stimulated or flunitrazepam-enhanced, muscimol-stimulated chloride uptake were studied. The chloride uptake was determined at 30°C, for 5 sec. Pentobarbital and muscimol produced a maximal stimulation of chloride uptake in cortical synaptoneurosomes at 500 M and 50M, respectively. SR 95531 as well as bicuculline had no effect on the basal uptake of chloride. Whereas, SR 95531 (0.3–30 M) and bicuculline (0.1–100 M), when added 5 min before muscimol (50 M), produced a significant concentration-dependent inhibition of muscimol (50 M)-stimulated chloride uptake (IC₅₀ s of 0.89±0.11 M and 13.45±2.10M, respectively). In studies of the inhibitory effects of SR 95531 and bicuculline on pentobarbital (500 M)-stimulated chloride uptake, the IC₅₀ s were 0.81±0.12 M and 3.86±1.14 M, respectively. SR 95531 exhibited a more potent inhibitory effect than bicuculline on flunitrazepam-enhanced, muscimol-stimulated chloride uptake. The results revealed that SR 95531 has a more potent antagonistic effect than bicuculline on GABA_A-regulated chloride flux.     

兴奋大鼠延髓A1区引起降压、降心率效应的机制

在水合氯醛麻醉、箭毒化、人工呼吸的大鼠,观察到:(1) A_1区注入谷氨酸钠引起明显的血压下降和心率减慢。(2) 切断双侧颈迷走神经明显衰减A_1区的降压,降心率效应。(3) 延髓头端腹外侧区(RVL)预先注射酚妥拉明或心得安,均能明显衰减谷氨酸钠兴奋A_1区的降压效应,A_1区的降心率作用基本不受影响,将纳洛酮注入RVL后,A_1区的降压和降心率效应均无明显变化;注射荷包牡丹碱入RVL则使A_1区的降压、降心率效应反转。(4) RVL内注入酚妥拉明或心得安本身使基础血压降低,注射荷包牡丹碱入RVL则使基础血压升高(提示RVL内的α-,β-受体中介对RVE加压神经元的紧张性兴奋作用,GABA受体中介紧张性抑制作用);另一方面,RVL内注入心得安使基础心率减慢、注入纳洛酮或荷包牡丹碱使基础心率加快(说明β-受体中介紧张性心加速效应,阿片受体和GABA受体中介紧张性心抑制效应)。     

微电泳给予回苏灵对家兔小脑皮层单位放电的影响

文献报道呼吸复苏剂回苏灵(dimefline,DIM)的作用可能是阻断 GABA 受体。本工作选择 GABA 受体密集的小脑皮层用微电泳方法对此加以验证。用五管玻璃微电极记录了16只家兔小脑皮层100个自发放电单位。除8个单位对 GABA、DIM 均不敏感外,有92个单位对 GABA 敏感。微电泳给予 DIM 能使这些单位的放电出现兴奋,阻遏及先兴奋后阻遏等不同效应。在75个 GABA 敏感的单位中,有71个单位 DIM 能对抗 GABA 的阻遏效应或使该单位对 GABA 的敏感性下降,未能对抗 GABA 作用的单位只有4个。静脉注射 DIM 能产生相似的结果。在35个 GABA 敏感的单位中,比较了荷包牡丹碱(bicuculline,BIC)与DIM 对 GABA 阻遏效应的影响。其中两者均能对抗 GABA 效应的有21个,两者都不能对抗的有3个,还有11个单位则 BIC 不能对抗而 DIM 能对抗。本工作提示,DIN 能对抗GABA 的阻遏效应,可作为 GABA 受体的阻断剂。