Unique responses of auditory cortex networks in vitro to low concentrations of quinine

The anti-malarial drug quinine has several side effects including tinnitus. The aim of the study was to determine if cultured auditory networks growing on microelectrode arrays exhibited unique dynamic states when exposed to quinine. Eight auditory cortex networks (ACN), eight frontal cortex networks (FCN), and five inferior colliculus networks (ICN) were used in this study. Response of ACNs to quinine was biphasic, with an excitatory phase followed by inhibition. FCNs and ICNs revealed only inhibitory responses. The concentrations at which the spike rate was inhibited by 50% (IC50 mean +/- SE) were 42.5 +/- 3.9, 28.7 +/- 4.8 and 23.9 +/- 2.1 microM for ACNs, FCNs, and ICNs, respectively. Quinine increased the regularity and coordination of bursting in all three tissues. The increased burst pattern regularity of ICNs coupled with the excitatory responses seen only in ACNs between 1 and 10 microM show a unique susceptibility of auditory tissues to quinine that may be related to the underlying mechanism that triggers tinnitus-like activity.