The combined effects of halothane and lamotrigine on excitatory postsynaptic potentials and use-dependent block in the rat dentate gyrus in vitro

Lamotrigine inhibits postsynaptic AMPA receptor and glutamate release in the dentate gyrus

PURPOSE

The dentate gyrus (DG) is a gateway that regulates seizure activity in the hippocampus. We investigated the site of action of lamotrigine (LTG), an effective anticonvulsant, in the regulation of alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole propionic acid (AMPA) and N-methyl-D-aspartic acid (NMDA) receptor-mediated excitatory synaptic transmission on DG.

METHODS

Evoked AMPA and NMDA receptor-mediated excitatory postsynaptic currents (eEPSCampa and eEPSCnmda) were recorded by whole-cell patch-clamp recording from the granule cells of DG in brain slice preparation of young Wistar rats (60-120 g). Exogenously applied AMPA and NMDA-induced currents and AMPA receptor-mediated miniature EPSC (mEPSCampa) were recorded in the presence of specific antagonists.

RESULTS

LTG inhibited both eEPSCampa and eEPSCnmda, and had no effect on exogenously applied NMDA-induced current indicating LTG inhibited glutamate release. Previous studies demonstrated that alteration in glutamate concentration in synaptic cleft causes parallel changes of eEPSCampa and eEPSCnmda. Our results showed that LTG inhibited eEPSCampa significantly more than eEPSCnmda (p < 0.05), suggesting that LTG may also have blocked the postsynaptic AMPA receptor. The hypothesis is further supported by the facts that; (1) LTG (30-100 microM) inhibited direct exogenously applied AMPA-induced currents (to 90%), (2) LTG significantly reduced the amplitude, but not the frequency of mEPSCampa and asynchronous (EPSC), and (3) LTG-induced reduction of eEPSCampa was not associated with a modification of the paired-pulse ratio. To sum up, LTG exerts a postsynaptic inhibitory mechanism on the AMPA receptor.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results demonstrate that LTG suppresses postsynaptic AMPA receptors and reduces glutamate release in granule cells of DG. The postsynaptic effect can be one of the underlying mechanisms of LTG's anticonvulsant action.

Epilepsy, neurodegeneration, and extracellular glutamate in the hippocampus of awake and anesthetized rats treated with okadaic acid

We have previously shown that the intrahippocampal microinjection of okadaic acid (OKA), a potent inhibitor of serine/threonine protein phosphatases, induces epileptic seizures, neuronal death, and the hyperphosphorylation of the NR2B subunit of the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor. We administered OKA by reverse microdialysis in the hippocampus of awake and halothane-anesthetized rats, with simultaneous collection of microdialysis fractions and recording of the EEG activity, and subsequent histological analysis. OKA produced intense behavioral and persistent EEG seizure activity in the awake rats but not in the anesthetized animals, and did not significantly alter the extracellular concentration of glutamate and aspartate detected in the microdialysis fractions. One day after the experiment a remarkable neurodegeneration of CA1 hippocampal region was observed in both the awake and the anesthetized rats. We conclude that the OKA-induced epilepsy cannot be ascribed to increased extracellular glutamate, but to an increased sensitivity of NMDA receptor. We propose that halothane protected against the epilepsy because it blocks NMDA receptor overactivation, and that the neurodegeneration of CA1 region is independent of this overactivation and due probably to alterations of cytoskeletal proteins consequent to the OKA-induced hyperphosphorylation.