ABSTRACT
Blockade of GABAB receptors was reported to improve cognitive performance in mammals. The physiological basis of this effect is poorly understood. We investigated the effect of the GABAB receptor antagonist CGP 35348 on long-term potentiation (LTP) in the CA1 area of the hippocampus in vitro and in vivo. In vitro the effect of CGP 35348 on LTP, induced either by two non-primed tetanic stimulations or by two primed bursts of stimuli, was investigated. In the presence of 1 mM CGP 35348 LTP was significantly facilitated following two non-primed tetanic trains, but was impaired following two primed burst stimulations. In vivo LTP was induced by applying non-primed trains of stimuli of increasing duration to the Schaffer collateral/commissural fibers. The potentiation of the population spike recorded in CA1 was significantly facilitated by CGP 35348 (100 mg/kg i.v.). In conclusion these findings demonstrate that the GABAB antagonist CGP 35348 facilitates LTP in vitro and in vivo if induced by non-primed tetanic stimulation. In vitro, the mode of stimulation determines the effect of the GABAB antagonist on LTP.
Subject(s)
Hippocampus/physiology , Organophosphorus Compounds/pharmacology , Pyramidal Tracts/physiology , Receptors, GABA-A/physiology , Animals , Electric Stimulation , Evoked Potentials/drug effects , GABA-A Receptor Antagonists , Hippocampus/drug effects , In Vitro Techniques , Male , Pyramidal Tracts/drug effects , Rats , Rats, Sprague-Dawley , Reference ValuesABSTRACT
The goal of this report is to present the results obtained with three new GABAB receptor antagonists. CGP 54062 has an IC50 in a GABAB binding test of 0.013 microM which is roughly 2500-fold lower than one of the most potent blockers known so far, CGP 35348 (IC50 = 34 microM). CGP 46381 and CGP 36742 have IC50s of 4.9 and 36 microM respectively. The latter two compounds are the first orally active GABAB receptor antagonists. All three compounds bind to the GABAB receptor selectively, and are inactive in a number of binding tests assessing the compounds' affinity to various other receptor sites. The effect of these blockers on GABAergic transmission was investigated in the CA1 area of hippocampal slices. The Schaffer collateral/commissural fibers were stimulated and the evoked postsynaptic potentials were recorded intracellularly in pyramidal neurons. The three antagonists blocked the late inhibitory postsynaptic potential with the following rank order of potency CGP 54062 > 46381 > 36742 approximately 35348. These findings support the hypothesis that these potentials are mediated by GABAB receptors. Orally administered CGP 36742 and CGP 46381 block the neuronal depression induced by iontophoretically applied baclofen in anaesthetised rats. Up to a dose of 10 mg/kg i.v. CGP 54062 was inactive and thus does not appear to cross the blood-brain barrier at this dose. In anaesthetised rats the effects of the three new GABAB antagonists and of CGP 35348 were investigated on the paired-pulse inhibition of the population spikes evoked in the CA1 area of the hippocampus.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Subject(s)
Brain/drug effects , GABA-A Receptor Antagonists , gamma-Aminobutyric Acid/metabolism , Administration, Oral , Animals , Brain/metabolism , Male , Rats , Receptors, GABA-A/metabolismABSTRACT
The aim of this study was to gain further insight into the function of cortical GABAB receptors. In chloral hydrate-anaesthetized rats, microiontophoretic administration of the GABAB receptor blocker CGP 35348 induced a moderate increase in firing of spontaneously active neurons in the rostral and caudal sensorimotor cortex. This increase in cell firing was accompanied by a reduction in the baclofen-induced inhibition of cell activity. In contrast to the GABAA receptor antagonist bicuculline methiodide, CGP 35348 did not induce any paroxysmal discharges. The excitatory responses of rostral cortical neurons elicited by iontophoretically applied acetylcholine and quisqualate were potentiated in most neurons after both microiontophoretic and intravenous administration of CGP 35348. The potentiation was observed in the absence of any change in the spontaneous firing rate. These effects were dose-dependent for both routes of administration. The potentiation of the quisqualate response was reversed by intravenously applied baclofen. In conclusion, these findings suggest that cortical GABAB receptors are involved in the control of cortical neuronal excitability.
