Brain research
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Comparative Study
Steroid modulation of GABAA receptors in an amphibian brain.
Steroids can modulate gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABAA) receptor function in rat brains, but the physiological relevance of this mechanism is still unclear. To determine whether this phenomenon is widespread among vertebrates, we investigated steroid modulation of GABAA receptors in amphibian brain tissue. Equilibrium binding parameters for t-butylbicyclophosphorothionate ([35S]TBPS) and [3H]flunitrazepam were similar in Taricha granulosa and mammalian brains, as was the allosteric regulation of [35S]TBPS and [3H]flunitrazepam binding by GABA. ⋯ In autoradiographic studies, 3 alpha-hydroxy-5 alpha-pregnan-20-one inhibited [35S]TBPS binding sites in all brain regions examined, whereas corticosterone had no effect on [35S]TBPS binding. These studies suggest that the steroid recognition sites on GABAA receptors have been highly conserved through vertebrate evolution and thus portend physiologically important functions. However, the pharmacological profiles for the GABAA receptor and the high-affinity corticosteroid receptor are apparently different, suggesting there are multiple types of steroid recognition sites on neuronal membranes.
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Stimulation-produced modulation from the rostral, medial medulla (RMM) on the spinal nociceptive tail-flick (TF) reflex and on lumbar spinal dorsal horn neuron responses to noxious cutaneous stimuli was studied in adult rats treated as neonates with capsaicin or vehicle. In vehicle-treated rats (n = 7), both descending facilitatory and inhibitory influences on the TF reflex were produced from the RMM. At 11/23 sites in the RMM, electrical stimulation produced biphasic modulatory effects. ⋯ Neither the number of sites in RMM from which electrical stimulation produced biphasic modulatory effects on the TF reflex (48% and 33%, respectively) nor the intensities of stimulation or magnitudes of facilitation or inhibition of the TF reflex significantly differed between vehicle- and capsaicin-treated rats. In electrophysiological experiments, all units studied responded to non-noxious and noxious intensities of mechanical stimulation applied to the glabrous skin of the plantar surface of the ipsilateral hind foot and also to noxious heating of the skin (50 degrees C). The number of sites where electrical stimulation produced only facilitatory effects on responses of spinal dorsal horn neurons to noxious stimulation (thermal or mechanical) of the skin was significantly increased from 13% of the total sites in vehicle-treated rats to 40% in capsaicin-treated rats.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
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The nucleus of the solitary tract (NTS) was systematically explored in the alpha-chloralose-anesthetized rat for sites that elicited changes in mean arterial pressure (MAP) and heart rate (HR) during microinjections (20 nl) of phosphate-buffered saline (PBS; pH 7.2-7.4) or NaCl solutions containing various concentrations of NaCl (104-326 mM). Decreases in MAP (range 7-83 mmHg) and HR (range 10-70 bpm) were consistently elicited from sites in the caudal medial and commissural subnuclei of NTS. Microinjection of PBS or NaCl into other NTS subnuclei or area postrema did not elicit cardiovascular responses. ⋯ Administration of atropine methyl bromide had no effect on the magnitude of the depressor response to injections of PBS into NTS, but significantly attenuated (32%) the HR response. Subsequent administration of the ganglionic blockers hexamethonium bromide or arfonad abolished both the depressor and bradycardic responses. These data suggest that within a restricted region of the caudal NTS there exists a pool of neurons sensitive to changes in extracellular Na+ concentrations that, when activated by the sodium, elicit vasodepressor responses as a result of sympathoinhibition and bradycardia as a result of vagal excitation and sympathoinhibition.