Disruption of prepulse inhibition in mice lacking mGluR1

Sensorimotor gating, measured by prepulse inhibition of the startle response (PPI), is a cross-species form of information processing that is deficient in patients with schizophrenia and is widely used as a model to study the neurobiology of this disorder. The eight known metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs) are divided into three groups on the basis of sequence homology and pharmacological properties. Group I consists of mGluR5 and mGluR1, both of which are coupled positively to phospholipase C. Mice lacking mGluR5 exhibit a deficit in PPI. Like mGluR5, mGluR1 is located in regions that are involved in the modulation of PPI. To test the hypothesis that mGluR1 is involved in the modulation of PPI we assessed PPI in mGluR1 knockout (KO) mice. Littermate mGluR1 wild-type and KO mice were tested at multiple ages in a standard PPI paradigm containing a 65 dB background, 120 dB pulses and prepulses of 69, 73 and 77 dB. At all ages tested, mGluR1 KO mice exhibited a significant PPI deficit. The PPI deficit of the mGluR1 KO mice was not further exaggerated by administration of the N-methyl-d-aspartate antagonist phencyclidine nor was it reversed by administration of the dopamine antagonist raclopride (3.0 mg/kg). The PPI deficit of the mGluR1 KO mice was, however, ameliorated by administration of the mood stabilizer lamotrigine (27 mg/kg base equivalent weight), though increases in PPI were also seen with lamotrigine in the wild-type mice. Thus, both group I metabotropic glutamate receptors are involved in the regulation of PPI in mice.