毒蕈碱乙酰胆碱M2/M4受体亚型在调节脊髓背角神经元谷氨酸能递质释放中的作用

Role of muscarinic cholinergic receptor subtypes in regulating glutamatergic synaptic transmission in rat spinal dorsal horn

目的研究毒蕈碱胆碱能受体(mAChRs)亚型对脊髓背角感觉神经元谷氨酸能突触传递的调节机制。方法在急性切取的腰段脊髓切片上,利用全细胞膜片钳法记录mAChRs非特异性激动剂氢化震颤素M(Oxo-M)对脊髓背角浅层神经元谷氨酸能兴奋性突触后电流(eEPSCs)的影响,给予M2/M4受体特异性拮抗剂喜巴辛,观察mAChRs在脊髓背角浅层神经元谷氨酸能递质释放调节过程中的作用。结果不同浓度Oxo-M使脊髓背角神经元单突触和多突触eEPSCs的幅度显著降低,其抑制强度呈浓度依赖性,喜巴辛可以拮抗Oxo-M对刺激诱发eEPSCs幅度的抑制作用,在记录的25个细胞中,92.3%的单突触细胞和75%的多突触细胞表现为Oxo-M抑制作用被完全拮抗,另有16%的细胞表现为部分拮抗作用。结论 mAChRs激活后通过位于脊髓背角传入神经末梢突触前膜的M2或M4受体亚型抑制兴奋性谷氨酸递质的释放,这种突触前对谷氨酸释放的调节可能是胆碱能系统和mAChRs在脊髓水平对伤害性刺激调控的作用机制。

Objective To investigate the role of muscarinic cholinergic receptor （mAChR） subtypes in the regulation of glutamatergic input to the spinal dorsal horn neurons and the possible mechanism. Methods Whole-cell voltage-clamp recordings on acute spinal slice was utilized to investigate the effect of activation of mAChRs and blockade of M2/M4 subtypes on glutamatergic synaptic transmission in rat spinal dorsal horn neurons. Results The nonselective mAChRs agonist oxotremorine-M concentration-dependently decreased the amplitude of monosynaptic and polysynaptic evoked glutamate-mediated excitatory postsynaptic currents （eEPSCs） in most of the neurons. The M2/M4 antagonist himbacine completely blocked the inhibitory effect of oxotremorine-M in 92.3% of monosynaptic and 75% of polysynaptic neurons in the spinal cord slices. In the remaining 16% neurons, himbacine partially blocked the inhibitory effect of oxotremorine-M. Conclusions Activation of mAChRs in the spinal cord attenuates synaptic glutamate release to the dorsal horn neurons mainly through M2 and M4 receptor subtypes, indicating that a presynaptic inhibition in the spinal cord may be involved in the regulation of nociception by the cholinergic system and mAChRs.