Effects of systemic and local ethanol on responses of rat cerebellar Purkinje neurons to iontophoretically applied norepinephrine and gamma-aminobutyric acid

Modulation of GABAA receptors in cerebellar granule neurons by ethanol: a review of genetic and electrophysiological studies

Cerebellar granule neurons (CGNs) receive inhibitory input from Golgi cells in the form of phasic and tonic currents that are mediated by postsynaptic and extrasynaptic gamma-aminobutyric acid type A (GABAA) receptors, respectively. Extrasynaptic receptors are thought to contain alpha6betaxdelta subunits. Here, we review studies on ethanol (EtOH) modulation of these receptors, which have yielded contradictory results. Although studies with recombinant receptors expressed in Xenopus oocytes indicate that alpha6beta3delta receptors are potently enhanced by acute exposure to low (>or=3 mM) EtOH concentrations, this effect was not observed when these receptors were expressed in Chinese hamster ovary cells. Slice recordings of CGNs have consistently shown that EtOH increases the frequency of phasic spontaneous inhibitory postsynaptic currents (sIPSCs), as well as the tonic current amplitude and noise. However, there is a lack of consensus as to whether EtOH directly acts on extrasynaptic receptors or modulates them indirectly; that is, via an increase in spillover of synaptically released GABA. It was recently demonstrated that an R to Q mutation of amino acid 100 of the alpha6 subunit increases the effect of EtOH on both sIPSCs and tonic current. These electrophysiological findings have not been reproducible in our hands. Moreover, it was shown the alpha6-R100Q mutation enhances sensitivity to the motor-impairing effects of EtOH in outbred Sprague-Dawley rats, but this was not observed in a line of rats selectively bred for high sensitivity to EtOH-induced motor alterations (Alcohol Non-Tolerant rats). We conclude that currently there is insufficient evidence conclusively supporting a direct potentiation of extrasynaptic GABAA receptors following acute EtOH exposure in CGNs.

Low dose acute alcohol effects on GABA A receptor subtypes

GABA(A) receptors (GABA(A)Rs) are the main inhibitory neurotransmitter receptors and have long been implicated in mediating at least part of the acute actions of ethanol. For example, ethanol and GABAergic drugs including barbiturates and benzodiazepines share many pharmacological properties. Besides the prototypical synaptic GABA(A)R subtypes, nonsynaptic GABA(A)Rs have recently emerged as important regulators of neuronal excitability. While high doses (> or =100 mM) of ethanol have been reported to enhance activity of most GABA(A)R subtypes, most abundant synaptic GABA(A)Rs are essentially insensitive to ethanol concentrations that occur during social ethanol consumption (< 30 mM). However, extrasynaptic delta and beta3 subunit-containing GABA(A)Rs, associated in the brain with alpha4 or alpha6 subunits, are sensitive to low millimolar ethanol concentrations, as produced by drinking half a glass of wine. Additionally, we found that a mutation in the cerebellar alpha6 subunit (alpha6R100Q), initially reported in rats selectively bred for increased alcohol sensitivity, is sufficient to produce increased alcohol-induced motor impairment and further increases of alcohol sensitivity in recombinant alpha6beta3delta receptors. Furthermore, the behavioral alcohol antagonist Ro15-4513 blocks the low dose alcohol enhancement on alpha4/6/beta3delta receptors, without reducing GABA-induced currents. In binding assays alpha4beta3delta GABA(A)Rs bind [(3)H]Ro15-4513 with high affinity, and this binding is inhibited, in an apparently competitive fashion, by low ethanol concentrations, as well as analogs of Ro15-4513 that are active to antagonize ethanol or Ro15-4513's block of ethanol. We conclude that most low to moderate dose alcohol effects are mediated by alcohol actions on alcohol/Ro15-4513 binding sites on GABA(A)R subtypes.

Alcohol potently modulates climbing fiber-->Purkinje neuron synapses: role of metabotropic glutamate receptors

Consumption of alcoholic beverages produces alterations in motor coordination and equilibrium that are responsible for millions of accidental deaths. Studies indicate that ethanol produces these alterations by affecting the cerebellum, a brain region involved in the control of motor systems. Purkinje neurons of the cerebellar cortex have been shown to be particularly important targets of ethanol. However, its mechanism of action at these neurons is poorly understood. We hypothesized that ethanol could modulate Purkinje neuron function by altering the excitatory input provided by the climbing fiber from the inferior olive, which evokes a powerful all-or-none response denoted as the complex spike. To test this hypothesis, we performed whole-cell patch-clamp electrophysiological and Ca2+ imaging experiments in acute slices from rat cerebella. We found that ethanol potently inhibits the late phase of the complex spike and that this effect is the result of inhibition of type-1 metabotropic glutamate receptor-dependent responses at the postsynaptic level. Moreover, ethanol inhibited climbing fiber long-term depression, a form of synaptic plasticity that also depends on activation of these metabotropic receptors. Our findings identify the climbing fiber-->Purkinje neuron synapse as an important target of ethanol in the cerebellar cortex and indicate that ethanol significantly affects cerebellar circuits even at concentrations as low as 10 mm (legal blood alcohol level in the United States is below 0.08 g/dl = 17 mm).

Alcohol enhances GABAergic transmission to cerebellar granule cells via an increase in Golgi cell excitability

Alcohol intoxication alters coordination and motor skills, and this is responsible for a significant number of traffic accident-related deaths around the world. Although the precise mechanism of action of ethanol (EtOH) is presently unknown, studies suggest that it acts, in part, by interfering with normal cerebellar functioning. An important component of cerebellar circuits is the granule cell. The excitability of these abundantly expressed neurons is controlled by the Golgi cell, a subtype of GABAergic interneuron. Granule cells receive GABAergic input in the form of phasic and tonic currents that are mediated by synaptic and extrasynaptic receptors, respectively. Using the acute cerebellar slice preparation and patch-clamp electrophysiological techniques, we found that ethanol induces a parallel increase in both the frequency of spontaneous IPSCs and the magnitude of the tonic current. EtOH (50 mm) did not produce this effect when spontaneous action potentials were blocked with tetrodotoxin. Recordings in the loose-patch cell-attached configuration demonstrated that ethanol increases the frequency of spontaneous action potentials in Golgi cells. Taken together, these findings indicate that ethanol enhances GABAergic inhibition of granule cells via a presynaptic mechanism that involves an increase in action potential-dependent GABA release from Golgi cells. This effect is likely to have an impact on the flow of information through the cerebellar cortex and may contribute to the mechanism by which acute ingestion of alcoholic beverages induces motor impairment.

Differences in norepinephrine clearance in cerebellar slices from low-alcohol-sensitive and high-alcohol-sensitive rats

High-alcohol-sensitive (HAS) and low-alcohol-sensitive (LAS) rats were bred for sensitivity and insensitivity, respectively, to the sedative/hypnotic effects of ethanol. These rats also display differential sensitivity to the depressant effects of locally applied ethanol on cerebellar Purkinje neurons in vivo. We have found that LAS animals exhibit a greater influence of endogenous beta-adrenergic activity on neuronal responses to gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and ethanol than do HAS animals. In the current study, we investigated the possibility that the regulation of synaptic norepinephrine levels by norepinephrine transporters could contribute to a differential beta-adrenergic influence on GABA and ethanol sensitivity between HAS and LAS rats. We locally applied norepinephrine from a glass micropipette into the various layers of cerebellar brain slices prepared from LAS and HAS rats, and recorded the levels of norepinephrine clearance by using Nafion-coated carbon-fiber microelectrodes. Norepinephrine clearance was significantly faster by approximately 64% in the Purkinje cell layer of HAS rats. No differences in norepinephrine clearance were found in the molecular or the granule layer between LAS and HAS rats. The catecholamine uptake inhibitor nomifensine reduced norepinephrine clearance in both rat lines. These findings support the hypothesis that regulation of synaptic norepinephrine levels by norepinephrine transporter activity in the Purkinje cell layer may contribute to the differential sensitivity of Purkinje neurons to ethanol and GABA in LAS and HAS rats.

Effects of systemic and local ethanol on responses of rat cerebellar Purkinje neurons to iontophoretically applied gamma-aminobutyric acid

The goals of this study were: (1) to determine the effects of acute systemic or local application of ethanol (ETOH) on the response of cerebellar Purkinje cells (P-cells) to iontophoretically applied gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and (2) to characterize the effects of Ro15-4513, a putative antagonist of ETOH-GABA interactions, on ETOH-induced changes in GABA responsiveness. Male Sprague-Dawley rats (230-370 g) were anesthetized with halothane and implanted with intraperitoneal catheters for administration of ETOH (1.0-2.0 g/kg), before the recording session. Extracellular activity of single P-cells was recorded with the central barrel of a five-barrel micropipette, the other barrels of which were used for microiontophoresis of GABA and electro-osmosis of ETOH at the recording site. Spontaneous discharge and response of P-cells to GABA were monitored during a pre-ETOH control and for 1-1.5 h after systemic or electro-osmotic administration of ETOH. Transient suppression of spontaneous P-cell discharge was usually observed within 4-8 min of systemic ETOH injection. This effect lasted 2-4 min in 10 out of 19 rats tested. GABA-mediated inhibitory responses of cerebellar P-cells were increased by 45-50% relative to pre-ETOH values at 10 and 90 min post-ETOH injection. Prior administration of the imidazobenzodiazepine Ro15-4513 (4-6 mg/kg) failed to antagonize either the ETOH-induced enhancement of GABA-mediated inhibition or the transient inhibition of spontaneous P-cell activity rat cerebellar P-cell produced by ETOH. In these studies, electro-osmotically applied ETOH produced a potent suppression of spontaneous P-cell activity which precluded further augmentation of unit responses to GABA. These results show that doses of systemically administered ETOH which are mildly intoxicating in the awake, behaving animal, enhance the inhibitory action of GABA on cerebellar P-cell discharge.