Interaction of ethanol and L-glutamate in the guinea pig ileum myenteric plexus

Evidence for a neurotransmitter role of glutamate in guinea pig myenteric plexus neurons

Longitudinal muscle-myenteric plexus strips of the guinea pig ileum were used to investigate a possible transmitter role of glutamate (Glu) in the enteric nervous system. Glu was released from this nerve muscle preparation by high K(+)-depolarization in a Ca2(+)-dependent manner, by electrical field stimulation and by the ganglionic stimulant dimethylphenylpiperazinium which indicates its neural origin. Contractions of the longitudinal muscle evoked by electrical stimulation of the myenteric nerves or by Glu, were significantly reduced by the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA)-receptor antagonist FR115427 (9 and 18 microM), whereas contractions induced by histamine were unaffected. The results show that the amino acid Glu is likely to play an excitatory neurotransmitter role via NMDA receptors in the myenteric plexus of the guinea pig.

Ethanol inhibition of NMDA currents in acutely dissociated medial septum/diagonal band neurons from ethanol dependent rats

The effect of acutely applied ethanol and the impact of chronic ethanol treatment, sufficient to induce tolerance and physical dependence, on N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor function were studied in acutely isolated neurons from the medial septum/diagonal band (MS/DB) of adult rats using whole cell, patch-clamp electrophysiology. There was a small positive correlation for capacitance and current amplitude activated by 100 microM NMDA for all groups. Also, cell membrane capacitance was significantly smaller for Ethanol Dependent (approximately 80-84%) than either Naive or Control cells. Therefore NMDA-activated responses were normalized for capacitance (current density, pA/pF) across all three groups. NMDA-activated (30-1000 microM) responses were significantly larger in cells from Control and Ethanol Dependent rats relative to those from Naives. In addition, estimated maximal responses were significantly larger for Ethanol Dependent cells, compared to either Control or Naive, respectively, while EC50s and slopes were not significantly different. Acute 60 mM ethanol significantly inhibited responses to 100 microM NMDA in all three groups, however, mean ethanol inhibition was 12-25% smaller after ethanol dependence. There was no evidence of acute tolerance to ethanol inhibition for any group, but examination of patterns of inhibition for individual neurons showed a few cells were resistant to ethanol or exhibited progressive loss of ethanol inhibition. These results suggest that NMDA receptor function in acutely isolated MS/DB neurons is increased following in vivo chronic ethanol treatment, and shows resistance to acute ethanol inhibition suggesting NMDA receptor-mediated cellular tolerance.

Study on the role of glycine, strychnine-insensitive receptors (glycineB sites) in the discriminative stimulus effects of ethanol in the rat

Several recent studies indicate that both competitive and noncompetitive NMDA receptor antagonists substitute for ethanol in a drug discrimination procedure. In the present study we examined compounds from another class of NMDA receptor antagonists--glycine, strychnine-insensitive, receptor (glycineB site) antagonists in rats trained to discriminate between i.p.-administered 1.0 g/kg ethanol (10% v/v) and saline. When the animals met the discriminative criteria, substitution tests were conducted with the noncompetitive NMDA receptor antagonist, memantine (3.0-12.0 mg/kg, i.p.) and selective, glycineB site antagonists--L-701,324 (0.3-3.0 mg/kg, i.p.) and MRZ 2/576 (0.1-10.0 mg/kg, i.p.). Memantine completely substituted for ethanol at the dose of 6.0 mg/kg, which significantly suppressed the rate of responding, L-701,324 substituted for ethanol at the dose of 3.0 mg/kg, which only tended to decrease the response rate. MRZ 2/576 produced maximal ethanol-appropriate responding (50%) at the dose of 5.0 mg/kg, which did not affect the rate of responding. Glycine (200-800 mg/kg, i.p.) did not antagonize the ethanol stimulus. These results indicate that glycine, strychnine-insensitive, site antagonists may induce some ethanol-like stimulus effects in the rat.

A comparison of the effects of ethanol and the competitive glycine antagonist 7-chlorokynurenic acid on N-methyl-D-aspartic acid-induced neurotransmitter release from rat hippocampal slices

N-Methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA; 500 microM) stimulated the net release of preloaded tritiated norepinephrine from rat hippocampal slices. Both ethanol and the competitive glycine antagonist 7-chlorokynurenic acid (7-CK) dose-dependently inhibited NMDA-stimulated release without affecting basal, nonstimulated efflux. These inhibitory effects were readily reversed upon washout of the drugs. Over the concentration range tested (25-200 mM), ethanol inhibited approximately 65% of NMDA-stimulated release with an estimated IC50 of approximately 70 mM. In contrast, 7-CK fully inhibited release (> 95%) at a concentration of 30 microM with half-maximal inhibition occurring at approximately 2 microM. The combination of 7-CK (1-30 microM) and ethanol (25-100 mM) had an additive inhibitory effect on NMDA-stimulated release but did not alter the inhibitory potency of 7-CK. Calculated IC50 values for 7-CK in the presence of 25, 50, or 100 mM ethanol were (mean +/- SEM; microM) 2.33 (0.11), 2.38 (0.23), and 1.99 (0.30), respectively. 7-CK (3 microM) inhibited NMDA-stimulated [3H]norepinephrine release by approximately 50%. This inhibition was fully attenuated by the addition of the glycine agonist D-serine with complete reversal occurring at 30 microM D-serine. Increasing the 7-CK concentration to 10 microM shifted the D-serine dose-effect curve to the right in a parallel fashion as expected for a competitive antagonist. In contrast, the inhibitory effects of ethanol or the combination of 7-CK (3 microM) and ethanol (25 or 50 mM) were not reversed by the addition of D-serine (0.1-1,000 microM).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Antagonism of the non-opioid component of ethanol-induced analgesia by the NMDA receptor antagonist MK-801

Recent evidence from our laboratory suggests that the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist MK-801 (dizocilpine) selectively antagonizes non-opioid (i.e. naloxone-insensitive) mechanisms of stress-induced analgesia in mice. For example, we have recently demonstrated that a low dose of MK-801 (0.075 mg/kg, i.p.) antagonizes the non-opioid component of a mixed opioid/non-opioid swim stress-induced analgesia (SSIA) resulting from forced swimming for 3 min in 20 degrees C water. Since ethanol-induced analgesia (EIA) has been found to be only partially attenuated by naloxone, we hypothesized that MK-801 would similarly block the non-opioid component of EIA. The effects of MK-801 and of the opioid receptor antagonist naloxone (10 mg/kg, i.p.) on analgesia produced by ethanol (2.5 g/kg in 20% vol/vol, i.p.) were studied in control mice and in mice selectively bred for high (HA) or low (LA) SSIA. HA mice showed significantly more, and LA mice significantly less, EIA than controls. Naloxone and MK-801 significantly attenuated EIA in control and HA mice, and in these lines the combined administration of both antagonists blocked EIA completely. In LA mice, which displayed very little EIA, naloxone but not MK-801 reversed EIA completely. These findings provide additional evidence for the role of the NMDA receptor in non-opioid mechanisms of analgesia. The finding that mice selectively bred for high and low SSIA, also display high and low EIA suggests common mediation of the effects of stress and ethanol on antinociceptive processes.