ABSTRACT
Substituted anthracenes photodimerize to stereoisomeric [4 + 4] cyclodimers, some of which are inherently chiral. Recent supramolecular photochirogenic studies enabled the efficient preparation of specific stereoisomers, the absolute configurations of which should reflect the chiral environment of supramolecular host or scaffold employed but have not been determined, hindering detailed mechanistic elucidation and further host/scaffold design. In this study, we performed the combined experimental and state-of-the-art theoretical analyses of the circular dichroism spectra of chiral cyclodimers of 2-anthracenecarboxylic and 2,6-anthracenedicarboxylic acids to reveal the configurational and molecular orbital origin of the Cotton effects observed, and unambiguously determined the absolute configurations of these chiral cyclodimers. The present results allow us to directly correlate the enantiotopic face-selectivity upon photocyclodimerization with the absolute configuration of the cyclodimer derived therefrom and also to precisely elucidate the chiral arrangement of two cyclodimerizing anthracenes.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Although intrathecal administration of midazolam, a water-soluble imidazobenzodiazepine derivative, has been found to produce analgesia, how it exerts this effect at the neuronal level in the spinal cord is not fully understood. METHODS: The effects of midazolam on electrically evoked and spontaneous excitatory transmission were examined in lamina II neurons of adult rat spinal cord slices using the whole cell patch clamp technique. RESULTS: Bath-applied midazolam (1 microm) diminished Adelta- and C-fiber evoked polysynaptic excitatory postsynaptic currents in both amplitude and integrated area. However, it affected neither Adelta- and C-fiber evoked monosynaptic excitatory postsynaptic currents in amplitude nor miniature excitatory postsynaptic currents in amplitude, frequency, and decay time constant. In the presence of a benzodiazepine receptor antagonist, flumazenil (5 microm), midazolam (1 microm) did not diminish Adelta-fiber evoked polysynaptic excitatory postsynaptic currents, suggesting that midazolam modulate the gamma-aminobutyric acid interneurons in the dorsal horn. CONCLUSIONS: Midazolam reduced excitatory synaptic transmission by acting on the gamma-aminobutyric acid type A/benzodiazepine receptor in interneurons, leading to a decrease in the excitability of spinal dorsal horn neurons. This may be a possible mechanism for the antinociception by midazolam in the spinal cord.
Subject(s)
Adjuvants, Anesthesia/pharmacology , Hypnotics and Sedatives/pharmacology , Midazolam/pharmacology , Neurons/drug effects , Spinal Cord/drug effects , Synaptic Transmission/drug effects , Animals , Bicuculline/pharmacology , Electric Stimulation , Electrophysiology , Excitatory Amino Acid Agonists/pharmacology , Excitatory Postsynaptic Potentials/drug effects , GABA Antagonists/pharmacology , Glutamic Acid/physiology , In Vitro Techniques , Nerve Fibers, Myelinated/drug effects , Nerve Fibers, Unmyelinated/drug effects , Patch-Clamp Techniques , Rats , Spinal Cord/cytology , Spinal Nerve Roots/cytology , Spinal Nerve Roots/drug effects , alpha-Amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic Acid/pharmacologyABSTRACT
Volatile inhaled anesthetics and nitrous oxide (N2O) are often used together in clinical practice to produce analgesia. Because the analgesic effect of N2O is, at least in part, mediated by norepinephrine (NE) release in the spinal cord, we examined the interaction between isoflurane (ISO) and NE in the adult rat spinal cord with respect to central nociceptive information processing. The effects of clinically relevant concentrations of ISO (1 MAC) and NE (20 microM) on spontaneous inhibitory transmission in substantia gelatinosa (SG) neurons were examined using the blind whole-cell patch-clamp method. ISO prolonged the decay time and increased the total charge transfer of spontaneous inhibitory postsynaptic currents. NE increased the frequency and mean amplitude of inhibitory postsynaptic currents and the charge transfer as well. Coapplication of both drugs led to an additive increase of the charge transfer and frequent temporal summation of inhibitory postsynaptic currents. We conclude that both ISO and NE enhance the inhibitory synaptic transmission in the rat SG neurons and their interaction is additive, suggesting that ISO may add to the analgesic action of N2O at the spinal cord dorsal horn level.
Subject(s)
Isoflurane/pharmacology , Neural Inhibition/drug effects , Norepinephrine/pharmacology , Substantia Gelatinosa/drug effects , Synaptic Transmission/drug effects , Action Potentials/drug effects , Action Potentials/physiology , Animals , In Vitro Techniques , Male , Neural Inhibition/physiology , Rats , Rats, Wistar , Substantia Gelatinosa/physiology , Synaptic Transmission/physiologyABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Although isoflurane, a volatile anesthetic, can block the motor response to noxious stimulation (immobility and analgesia) and suppress autonomic responsiveness, how it exerts these effects at the neuronal level in the spinal cord is not fully understood. METHODS: The effects of a clinically relevant concentration (1 rat minimum alveolar concentration [MAC]) of isoflurane on electrically evoked and spontaneous excitatory/inhibitory transmission and on the response to exogenous administration of the gamma-aminobutyric acid type A receptor agonist muscimol were examined in lamina II neurons of adult rat spinal cord slices using the whole cell patch clamp technique. The effect of isoflurane on the action potential-generating membrane property was also examined. RESULTS: Bath-applied isoflurane (1.5%, 1 rat MAC) diminished dorsal root-evoked polysynaptic but not monosynaptic excitatory postsynaptic currents. Glutamatergic miniature excitatory postsynaptic currents were also unaffected by isoflurane. In contrast, isoflurane prolonged the decay phase of evoked and miniature gamma-aminobutyric acid type A receptor-mediated inhibitory postsynaptic currents and increased the amplitude of the muscimol-induced current. Isoflurane had little effect on action potential discharge activity. CONCLUSIONS: Isoflurane augments gamma-aminobutyric acid-mediated inhibitory transmission, leading to a decrease in the excitability of spinal dorsal horn neurons. This may be a possible mechanism for the antinociceptive effect of isoflurane in the spinal cord.
Subject(s)
Isoflurane/pharmacology , Neurons/drug effects , Spinal Cord/drug effects , Substantia Gelatinosa/drug effects , Animals , Excitatory Postsynaptic Potentials/drug effects , Excitatory Postsynaptic Potentials/physiology , Glutamates/physiology , In Vitro Techniques , Neurons/physiology , Rats , Spinal Cord/physiology , Spinal Nerve Roots/drug effects , Spinal Nerve Roots/physiology , Substantia Gelatinosa/physiology , Synapses/drug effects , Synapses/physiology , Synaptic Transmission/drug effects , Synaptic Transmission/physiology , gamma-Aminobutyric Acid/physiologyABSTRACT
Primary afferent A-fiber stimulation normally evokes fast mono- or polysynaptic EPSCs of short duration. However, in the presence of the GABA(A) receptor antagonist bicuculline, repetitive, long lasting, polysynaptic EPSCs can be observed following the initial, fast response. A-fiber-induced ERK activation is also facilitated in the presence of bicuculline. The frequency of miniature EPSCs and the amplitude of the monosynaptic A-fiber-evoked EPSCs are not affected by bicuculline or the GABA(A) receptor agonist muscimol, suggesting that GABA(A) receptors located on somatodendritic sites of excitatory interneurons are critical for this action. Bicuculline-enhanced polysynaptic EPSCs are completely eliminated by NMDA receptor antagonists APV and ketamine, as was the augmented ERK activation. This NMDA receptor-dependent phenomenon may contribute to bicuculline-induced allodynia or hyperalgesia, as well as the hypersensitivity observed in neuropathic pain patients.
