| 11465553 |
Wong SM, Cheng G, Homanics GE, Kendig JJ: Enflurane actions on spinal cords from mice that lack the beta3 subunit of the GABA (A) receptor. Neuroreport. 2002 Sep 16;13(13):1667-73.
BACKGROUND: Gamma-aminobutyric acid type A (GABA (A)) receptors are considered important in mediating anesthetic actions. Mice lacking the beta3 subunit of this receptor (beta3-/-) have a higher enflurane minimum alveolar concentration (MAC) than wild types (+/+). MAC is predominantly determined in spinal cord. METHODS: The authors measured three population-evoked responses in whole spinal cords, namely, the excitatory postsynaptic potential (pEPSP), the slow ventral root potential (sVRP), and the dorsal root potential. Synaptic and glutamate-evoked currents from motor neurons in spinal cord slices were also measured. RESULTS: Sensitivity of evoked responses to enflurane did not differ between +/+ and -/- cords. The GABA (A) receptor antagonist bicuculline significantly (P < 0.05) attenuated the depressant effects of enflurane on pEPSP, sVRP and glutamate-evoked currents in +/+ but not -/- cords. The glycine antagonist strychnine elevated the pEPSP to a significantly greater extent in -/- than in +/+ cords, but the interactions between strychnine and enflurane did not differ between -/- and +/+ cords. CONCLUSIONS: Similar enflurane sensitivity in spinal cords from -/- and +/+ mice was coupled with a decreased role for GABA (A) receptors in mediating the actions of enflurane in the former. This finding implies that other anesthetic targets substitute for GABA (A) receptors. Increase in glycine receptor-mediated inhibition was found in -/- cords, but the glycine receptor does not appear to be a substitute anesthetic target. This mutation thus led to a quantitative change in the molecular basis for anesthetic depression of spinal neurotransmission in a fashion not predicted by the mutation itself. The results argue against an immutable dominant role for GABA (A) receptors in mediating spinal contributions to MAC. |
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