ABSTRACT
[ ABSTRACT] AIM:To investigate the effects of paeoniflorin ( Pae) on the functional responses induced by acute hypoxic insult in the rat cerebellar Purkinje cells ( PCs) .METHODS:The whole-cell patch clamp was used for the intra-cellular recording of PCs in the rat cerebellar slices to evaluate the changes of membrane potential, the excitability of PCs, and the parallel fibre ( PF)-PC excitatory postsynaptic currents ( EPSCs) upon acute hypoxic insult alone or with the pre-sence of Pae.RESULTS:PCs showed an initial hyperpolarization followed by brief depolarization and long lasting post-hy-poxia hyperpolarization after hypoxia exposure.Pae completely blocked hypoxia-induced hyperpolarization and decreased the amplitude and the duration of hypoxic depolarization.Hypoxia up-regulated the excitability of rat PCs.Pae didn’t show any significant effect on the hypoxia-induced hyperexcitability in PCs.Acute hypoxia induced long-term depression ( LTD) in rat cerebellar PF-PC EPSCs, and Pae partially reversed hypoxia-induced depression in PF-PC EPSCs.CONCLUSION:Pae significantly suppresses hypoxia-induced responses in rat PCs and probably increases the tolerance of rat PCs to acute hypoxia.
