Objective: Characterize glutamate neurotransmission in the hippocampus of awake-behaving rodents during focal seizures in a model of aging.
Methods: We used enzyme-based ceramic microelectrode array technology to measure in vivo extracellular tonic glutamate levels and real-time phasic glutamate release and clearance events in the hippocampus of awake Fischer 344 rats. Local application of 4-aminopyridine (4-AP) into the CA1 region was used to induce focal motor seizures in different animal age groups representing young, late-middle aged and elderly humans.
Results: Rats with the highest preseizure tonic glutamate levels (all in late-middle aged or elderly groups) experienced the most persistent 4-AP-induced focal seizure motor activity (wet dog shakes) and greatest degree of acute seizure-associated disruption of glutamate neurotransmission measured as rapid transient changes in extracellular glutamate levels.
Significance: Increased seizure susceptibility was demonstrated in the rats with the highest baseline hippocampal extracellular glutamate levels, all of which were late-middle aged or aged animals. The manifestation of seizures behaviorally was associated with dynamic changes in glutamate neurotransmission. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a relationship between seizure susceptibility and alterations in both baseline tonic and phasic glutamate neurotransmission.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/epi.12797 | DOI Listing |
Biomedicines
December 2024
Department of Oral Biology, Semmelweis University, H-1089 Budapest, Hungary.
Background: N-methyl-D-aspartate type glutamate receptors (NMDARs) are fundamental to neuronal physiology and pathophysiology. The prefrontal cortex (PFC), a key region for cognitive function, is heavily implicated in neuropsychiatric disorders, positioning the modulation of its glutamatergic neurotransmission as a promising therapeutic target. Our recently published findings indicate that AT receptor activation enhances NMDAR activity in layer V pyramidal neurons of the rat PFC.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCells
January 2025
Institute of Health Sciences, Department of Neuroscience, Acibadem Mehmet Ali Aydinlar University, 34684 Istanbul, Türkiye.
Epilepsy is a chronic neurological disorder marked by recurrent seizures, significantly impacting individuals worldwide. Current treatments are often ineffective for a third of patients and can cause severe side effects, necessitating new therapeutic approaches. Glial cells, particularly astrocytes, microglia, and oligodendrocytes, are emerging as crucial targets in epilepsy management.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCureus
December 2024
Department of Physiology, Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine, Middletown, USA.
Down syndrome (DS) is a genetic intellectual disorder caused by trisomy of chromosome 21 (Hsa21) and presents with a variety of phenotypes. The correlation between the chromosomal abnormality and the resulting symptoms is unclear, partly due to the spectrum of impairments observed. However, it has been determined that trisomy 21 contributes to neurodegeneration and impaired neurodevelopment resulting from decreased neurotransmission, neurogenesis, and synaptic plasticity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNeurochem Res
January 2025
Department of Pathophysiology, Medical University of Lublin, 20-090, Lublin, Poland.
Methionine sulfoximine (MSO) is a compound originally discovered as a byproduct of agene-based milled flour maturation. MSO irreversibly inhibits the astrocytic enzyme glutamine synthase (GS) but also interferes with the transport of glutamine (Gln) and of glutamate (Glu), and γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) synthesized within the Glu/Gln-GABA cycle, in this way dysregulating neurotransmission balance in favor of excitation. No wonder that intraperitoneal administration of MSO has long been known to induce behavioral and/or electrographic seizures.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCell Mol Neurobiol
January 2025
Laboratory of Neurobiology, Centro de Investigaciones Medico Sanitarias (CIMES), University of Malaga, Calle Marqués de Beccaria, 3, Campus Teatinos s/n, 29010, Malaga, Spain.
Tetrameric AMPA-type ionotropic glutamate receptors are primary transducers of fast excitatory synaptic transmission in the central nervous system, and their properties and abundance at the synaptic surface are crucial determinants of synaptic efficacy in neuronal communication across the brain. The induction of long-term potentiation (LTP) leads to the insertion of GluA1-containing AMPA receptors at the synaptic surface, whereas during long-term depression (LTD), these receptors are internalized into the cytoplasm of the spine. Disruptions in the trafficking of AMPA receptors to and from the synaptic surface attenuate both forms of synaptic plasticity.
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