Firing pattern and calbindin-D28k content of human epileptic granule cells

In the hippocampus of chronic temporal lobe epilepsy, many abnormalities in structure and function have been described but their pathophysiological relevance often is poorly understood. In this study, we asked whether there may be a link between changes in the firing pattern and the loss of the calcium binding protein calbindin-D28k in epileptic hippocampal granule cells. Using the perforated patch-clamp technique, we investigated granule cells in slices prepared from human hippocampi removed for the treatment of pharmacoresistant temporal lobe epilepsy. Granule cells in hippocampi without significant signs of structural damage (lesion group) displayed a firing pattern indistinguishable from that of rodent granule cells and were strongly labeled with anti-calbindin-D28k antibodies. In contrast, half of granule cells in sclerotic hippocampi (HS group) showed an altered firing pattern and a severe loss of calbindin-D28k. While these cells show passive membrane properties comparable to cells of the rodent and lesion group, they lack the medium afterhyperpolarization and display only a weak spike frequency adaptation. On the other hand, granule cells in the HS group have an increased action potential threshold and an enlarged fast afterhyperpolarization. Applying post-recording immunohistochemistry to individual electrophysiologically characterized granule cells, we show that the loss of calbindin-D28k is not causally related to any of the changes in firing pattern. Both alterations seem to occur during the course of temporal lobe epilepsy, with the firing pattern being affected earlier than the calbindin-D28k content. In conclusion, we propose that it is the combination of the altered intrinsic excitability of granule cells with the amplified and prolonged synaptic input from perforant path fibers previously described in the epileptic dentate area which promotes tonic, non-adapting, high frequency firing of granule cells and thereby strongly augments the excitability of the hippocampus.

Effect of 5-hydroxytryptamine 1A receptor agonist BAY X 3702 on BCL-2 and BAX proteins level in the ipsilateral cerebral cortex of rats after transient focal ischaemia

The proto-oncogene B-cell lymphoma protein 2 (BCL-2) and its homologues are important modulators of cellular survival after transient brain ischaemia. In the present study we used western blotting to elucidate if the stimulation of 5-hydroxytryptamine 1A type receptors with their agonist BAY X 3702 results in regulation of BCL-2 family proteins. Treatment with BAY X 3702 resulted in elevated BCL-2 protein level in the ipsilateral cerebral cortex of animals as early as at 6 and 12 h of reperfusion, this effect becoming more pronounced at 24 h. BAY X 3702 administration caused no change in BCL-2-associated protein X content during reperfusion. The effect of BAY X 3702 on the level of death-inhibiting protein BCL-2 in the brain during ischaemia/reperfusion could contribute to the neuroprotective potency of the drug.

Distribution of P2X receptors on astrocytes in juvenile rat hippocampus

Recent evidence suggested that ATP acting via ionotropic (P2X) and metabotropic (P2Y) purinergic receptors might be involved in signaling between glial cells and within glial-neuronal networks. In contrast to their neuronal counterpart, the identity of P2X receptors in CNS glial cells is largely unknown. In the present study, antibodies recognizing the subunits P2X1-P2X7 were applied together with the astroglial marker S100beta and nuclear labeling with Hoechst 33342 to investigate semiquantitatively the distribution of the whole set of P2X receptors in astrocytes of the juvenile rat hippocampus. Expression of P2X1-P2X4, P2X6, and P2X7 subunits was observed in astrocytes of various hippocampal subregions, but the cells were completely devoid of P2X5 protein. S100beta-positive cells expressing subunits P2X3-P2X7 occurred evenly in the different subfields, while P2X1- and P2X2-positive astrocytes were distributed more heterogeneously. The staining pattern of P2X subunits also differed at the subcellular level. Antibodies against P2X2 and P2X4 labeled both astroglial cell bodies and processes. Immunoreactivity for P2X1 and P2X6 was mainly confined to somatic areas of S100beta-positive cells, whereas the subunit P2X3 was primarily localized along astroglial processes. Knowledge of the distribution of P2X receptors might provide a basis for a better understanding of their specific role in cell-cell signaling.

Carnosine protects rats under global ischemia

Rat brain subjected to 45-min global ischemia is characterized by decreased activity of K-p-nitrophenyl phosphatase and monoamine oxidase B and a disordering of the membrane bilayer by reactive oxygen species attack, the latter being monitored by the fluorescence of the membrane fluorescent probe, 1-anilino, 8-naphtalene sulphonate (ANS). Ischemic injury resulted in 67% mortality of the animals. In the group of animals pre-treated with the neuropeptide carnosine the mortality was only 30%. At the same time, carnosine protected both the activity of the above-mentioned enzymes and the brain membrane disordering, which was also tested by ANS fluorescence. The conclusion was made that carnosine protects the brain against oxidative injury and thereby increases the survival of the animals.

Effect of carnosine on rats under experimental brain ischemia

The effect of dietary carnosine on the behavioral and biochemical characteristics of rats under experimental ischemia was studied. Carnosine was shown to improve the animals orientation and learning in "Open Field" and "T-Maze" tests, and this effect was accompanied with an increase in glutamate binding to N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors in brain synaptosomes. Long-term brain ischemia induced by both sides' occlusion of common carotid arteries resulted in 55% mortality of experimental rats, and those who survived were characterized by partial suppression of orientation in T-maze. In the group of rats treated with carnosine, mortality after ischemic attack was decreased (from 55% to 17%) and most of the learning parameters were kept at the pre-ischemic level. Monoamine oxidase B (MAO B) activity in brain of the carnosine treated rats was not changed by ischemia significantly (compared to that of ischemic untreated rats) but NMDA binding to brain synaptosomal membranes being increased by ischemic attack was significantly suppressed and reached the level characteristic of normal brain. The suggestion was made that carnosine possesses a dual effect on NMDA receptors resulting in increase in their amount after long-term treatment but decrease the capacity to bind NMDA after ischemic attack.