Search

Alcohol-use disorders (AUDs) are characterized by repeated episodes of binge drinking. Based on reports that exposure to predator odor stress (PS) consistently increases ethanol intake, the present studies examined whether prior binge drinking differentially altered responsivity to PS and subsequent ethanol intake in male and female mice, when compared to mice without prior binge exposure. Initial studies in naïve male and female C57BL/6J mice confirmed that 30-min exposure to dirty rat bedding significantly increased plasma corticosterone (CORT) levels and anxiety-related behavior, justifying the use of dirty rat bedding as PS in the subsequent drinking studies. Next, separate groups of male and female C57BL/6J mice received seven binge ethanol sessions (binge) or drank water (controls), followed by a 1-month period of abstinence. Then, 2-bottle choice ethanol intake (10% or 10E vs. water, 23 h/day) was measured in lickometer chambers for 4 weeks. After baseline intake stabilized, exposure to intermittent PS (2×/week × 2 weeks) significantly enhanced ethanol intake after the 2nd PS in male, but not female, binge mice vs. baseline and vs. the increase in controls. However, in a subgroup of females (with low baselines), PS produced a similar increase in 10E intake in control and binge mice vs. baseline. Analysis of lick behavior determined that the enhanced 10E intake in binge male mice and in the female low baseline subgroup was associated with a significant increase in 10E bout frequency and 10E licks throughout the circadian dark phase. Thus, PS significantly increased 10E intake and had a synergistic interaction with prior binge drinking in males, whereas PS produced a similar significant increase in 10E intake in the low baseline subgroup of binge and control females. Plasma CORT levels were increased significantly in both binge and control animals after PS. CORT levels at 24-h withdrawal from daily 10E intake were highest in the groups with elevated 10E licks (i.e., binge males and control females). At 24-h withdrawal, protein levels of GABAA receptor α1 subunit, corticotropin releasing factor receptor 1, and glucocorticoid receptor in prefrontal cortex (PFC) and hippocampus (HC) were differentially altered in the male and female mice vs. levels in separate groups of age-matched naïve mice, with more changes in HC than in PFC and in females than in males. Importantly, the sexually divergent changes in protein levels in PFC and HC add to evidence for sex differences in the neurochemical systems influenced by stress and binge drinking, and argue for sex-specific pharmacological strategies to treat AUD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of this study was to determine whether there are region-specific or time-dependent changes in GABA-mediated synaptic inhibition of principal neurons in the hippocampus during in vivo status epilepticus. Standard whole cell patch clamp electrophysiological techniques were used to characterize miniature inhibitory postsynaptic currents (mIPSCs) in recordings from the principal neurons (PNs) of the dentate gyrus, CA1, and CA3 in acutely-obtained hippocampal slices from control and lithium/pilocarpine-induced status epilepticus(SE)-treated animals. The reduction in mIPSC amplitude was pervasive across the 3 regions examined in hippocampal slices obtained after 60 min (late) or just 15 min after the onset of SE. The mIPSC frequency was reduced in all 3 regions after 60 min and 2 regions (dentate, CA1) after 15 min. These findings lend further support to the hypothesis that a rapid modification of the postsynaptic GABA A receptor population leads to a widespread decline in GABA-mediated inhibition that, in part, contributes to both the self-sustaining nature of SE and to the decrease in the efficacy of benzodiazepines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethnopharmacological relevance Tilia tomentosa Moench bud extracts (TTBEs) is used in traditional medicine for centuries as sedative compound. Different plants belonging to the Tilia genus have shown their efficacy in the treatment of anxiety but still little is known about the mechanism of action of their bud extracts. Aim of the study To evaluate the action of TTBEs as anxiolytic and sedative compound on in vitro hippocampal neurons. Material and methods The anxiolytic effect of TTBEs was assayed by testing the effects of these compounds on GABA A receptor-activated chloride current of hippocampal neurons by means of the patch-clamp technique and microelectrode-arrays (MEAs). Results TTBEs acutely administered on mouse hippocampal neurons, activated a chloride current comparable to that measured in the presence of GABA (100 µM). Bicuculline (100 µM) and picrotoxin (100 µM) blocked about 90% of this current, while the remaining 10% was blocked by adding the benzodiazepine (BDZ) antagonist flumazenil (30 µM). Flumazenil alone blocked nearly 60% of the TTBEs activated current, suggesting that TTBEs binds to both GABA A and BDZ receptor sites. Application of high-doses of TTBEs on spontaneous active hippocampal neurons grown for 3 weeks on MEAs blocked the synchronous activity of these neurons. The effects were mimicked by GABA and prevented by picrotoxin (100 µM) and flumazenil (30 µM). At minimal doses, TTBEs reduced the frequency of synchronized bursts and increased the cross-correlation index of synchronized neuronal firing. Conclusions Our data suggest that TTBEs mimics GABA and BDZ agonists by targeting hippocampal GABAergic synapses and inhibiting network excitability by increasing the strength of inhibitory synaptic outputs. Our results contribute toward the validation of TTBEs as effective sedative and anxiolytic compound. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nitric oxide (NO) is involved in synaptic plasticity in the hippocampus through different presynaptic and postsynaptic mechanisms that include the modulation of the GABAergic neurotransmission. Inhibitory synapses on hippocampal pyramidal neurons are known to possess the molecular machinery for retrograde NO-signaling, but the modulation of GABA A Rs function by NO in these neurons and the mechanisms of action involved have not been fully characterized. Here we show that suppression of the endogenous NO generation by the nitric oxide synthase (NOS) inhibitor L-NAME produces significant and reversible increases in the magnitude of both tonic and phasic GABAergic currents in CA1 hippocampal pyramidal neurons. GABA-evoked chloride currents were measured in the presence or absence of L-NAME using whole-cell patch-clamp recordings in acute hippocampal slices from young adult mice. Enhancement of the tonic GABA responses induced by L-NAME was insensitive to TTX and decreased by co-incubation with the NO donor DEA/NO. Applications of DEA/NO alone did not produce significant effects on tonic GABA responses. L-NAME treatment also increased the amplitude of phasic GABAergic currents evoked by GABA-puffs. Our results indicate that the extent of tonic and phasic inhibition mediated by GABA A receptors in CA1 hippocampal pyramidal neurons is affected by endogenous NO production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is believed that amyloid-β peptide (Aβ), in its aggregated-oligomeric state, constitutes one of the neurotoxic factors involved in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease. With the objective of studying a potential role of the peptide on synaptic transmission, we studied the effect of soluble Aβ1-40 on synaptic transmission in rat hippocampal neurons. Neurons incubated with 500 nM of Aβ1-40 peptide for 3 days presented higher levels of intracellular calcium transients, as evaluated by fluorimetric techniques. These effects of Aβ were time and concentration dependent and were accompanied by increases in glutamatergic (0.8 ± 0.2 Hz to 2.9 ± 0.6 Hz), but not GABAergic, transmission. The analysis of pharmacologically isolated currents in treated neurons showed increases in both AMPA- and NMDA-mediated currents as compared to control. The effects of the peptide on the frequency of synaptic currents correlated well with increases in the number of SV2 puncta and of FM1-43 destaining, suggesting a presynaptic locus for the peptide. The data also shows that application of either Aβ or bicuculline alone for 24 h was without effects on neurotransmission. However, their co-application induced an increase in synaptic transmission which was accompanied by synchronous discharges reminiscent to those produced by pro-convulsive drugs, such as bicuculline. In conclusion, these results suggest that the soluble form of Aβ1-40 participates in the regulation of synaptic transmission increasing excitability and producing a pre epileptogenic state in hippocampal neurons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The Women''s Health Initiative trials – in which more extreme adverse outcomes were observed in the medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA) + conjugated equine estrogen (CEE) arm, as compared to the CEE only arm – suggest that the addition of MPA to estrogen treatment has undesirable consequences. An important question raised by these results is whether the adverse outcomes observed in the progestin arm can be attributed to effects that are unique to MPA or are common to all progestins. In this study we explored the potential for MPA and progesterone (P4) to differentially impact neuroendocrine function by comparing their effects on mRNA expression for the α4 subunit of GABA a receptors in the CA1 hippocampus of female rats. Prior research has shown that P4, acting through its reduced metabolite allopregnanolone (AP), can mediate α4 subunit expression, thereby altering GABAA receptor gated currents. By contrast, MPA competitively inhibits the enzymes necessary for the synthesis of AP. In this study, ovariectomized females were primed with estradiol benzoate and then treated with P4, MPA, or vehicle. Subjects were sacrificed 12 h or 24 h later and in situ hybridization was used to measure α4 mRNA in the CA1 hippocampus. At 12 h but not 24 h, α4 mRNA was reduced in the P4 group as compared to the MPA group, and as compared to the vehicle group. These results suggest that MPA, while progestational in terms of its effects in the uterus, is not a simple substitute for P4 in other systems. The relative impact of these two progestins on neuroendocrine function must be carefully explored. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]