Somatosensory stimulation suppresses the excitability of pyramidal cells in the hippocampal CA1 region in rats

The hippocampal region of the brain is important for encoding environment inputs and memory formation. However, the underlying mechanisms are unclear. To investigate the behavior of indi-vidual neurons in response to somatosensory inputs in the hippocampal CA1 region, we recorded and analyzed changes in local ifeld potentials and the ifring rates of individual pyramidal cells and interneurons during tail clamping in urethane-anesthetized rats. We also explored the mechanisms underlying the neuronal responses. Somatosensory stimulation, in the form of tail clamping, chan-ged local ifeld potentials into theta rhythm-dominated waveforms, decreased the spike ifring of py-ramidal cells, and increased interneuron ifring. In addition, somatosensory stimulation attenuated orthodromic-evoked population spikes. These results suggest that somatosensory stimulation sup-presses the excitability of pyramidal cells in the hippocampal CA1 region. Increased inhibition by local interneurons might underlie this effect. These ifndings provide insight into the mechanisms of signal processing in the hippocampus and suggest that sensory stimulation might have thera-peutic potential for brain disorders associated with neuronal hyperexcitability.

Effects of isoflurane and sevoflurane postconditioning and changes in JNK1/2 pathway activity on rat brain slices subjected to oxygen and glucose deprivation in vitro

Recent research shows that the JNK1/2 signaling pathway plays a neuroprotective role against ischemia-reperfusion injury by cross-talk with other pathways.The present study investigated the effects of isoflurane and sevoflurane postconditioning on JNK1/2 pathway activity and neuronal cell viability after oxygen and glucose deprivation injury in hippocampal slices in vitro.Techniques used included population spike analysis,propidium iodide fluorescent staining,western blot assay,and the use of JNK1/2-specific pharmacological tools such as anisomycin （agonist） and SP600125 （inhibitor）.We found that both isoflurane and sevoflurane inhibited JNK pathway activity and had neuroprotective effects against oxygen and glucose deprivation injury in slices of rat hippocampus in vitro.Postconditioning with volatile anesthetics exerted neuroprotective effects on nerve cells and preserved the function of the CA1 region by inhibiting JNK1/2 phosphorylation.This suppression of JNK1/2 activity could underlie the observed synergistic neuroprotective effect produced by volatile anesthetic postconditioning.

Activation of extrasynaptic GABA_A receptors inhibits cyclothiazideinduced epileptiform activity in hippocampal CA1 neurons

Extrasynaptic GABAA receptors （GABAARs）-mediated tonic inhibition is reported to involve in the patho- genesis of epilepsy. In this study, we used cyclo- thiazide （CTZ）-induced in vitro brain slice seizure model to explore the effect of selective activation of extrasynaptic GABAARS by 4,5,6,7-tetra- hydroisoxazolo[5,4-c] pyridine-3-ol （THIP） on the CTZ-induced epileptiform activity in hippocampal neurons. Perfusion with CTZ dose-dependently induced multiple epileptiform peaks of evoked population spikes （PSs）in CA1 pyramidal neurons, and treatment with THIP （5 μmol/L） significantly reduced the multiple PS peaks induced by CTZ stimulation. Western blot showed that the 6-subunit of the GABAAR, an extrasynaptic specific GABAAR subunit, was also significantly down-regulated in the cell membrane 2 h after CTZ treatment. Our results suggest that the CTZ-induced epileptiform activity in hippocampal CA1 neurons is suppressed by the activation of extrasynaptic GABAARs, and further support the hypothesis that tonic inhibition mediated by extrasynaptic GABAARs plays a prominent role in seizure generation.

Oleuropein Improves Long Term Potentiation at Perforant Path-dentate Gyrus Synapses in vivo

Objective To investigate the effect of oleuropein （OE） on long term potentiation （LTP） at hippocampal perforant path-dentate gyrus synapses in vivo. Methods An outer guide cannula, a monopolar recording electrode, and a bipolar stimulating electrode were implanted in the skull and extracellular recording technique was used to record the population spike in the dentate gyrus of anesthetized rats. Results Oleuropein significantly increased the basal synaptic transmission and the amplitude of population spike was increased from （11 7.6 ＋ 2.3）% to （134.9 _＋ 3.7）% after administration with OE. OE also accelerated LTP induction and maintenance, the population spike amplitude after high frequency stimulation was increased from （167.2 ± 12.8）% to （225.5 ± 15.5）% and the maintenance phase of LTP was from （182.1 ± 15.1）% to （210.5 ± 9.0）% respectively after administration with OE. Conclusion Present study showed that OE significantly improved different stages of LTP, which could be the molecular mechanism of its efficacy on attenuating AD-like pathology and delaying cognitive decline. OE can be a promising drug for AD and dementia.