Effects of SNP, GLU and GABA on the neuronal activity of striatum nucleus in rats

This study investigated the activity of nitric oxide (NO) in the striatum (STR) for a further comprehension of the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease (PD). Microiontophoresis was used to observe the effects of sodium nitroprusside (SNP), L-glutamic acid (GLU) and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) on STR neurons' firing rates. It was observed that 77.27% (51/66) of the tested STR neurons were excited by SNP. This excitatory effect could be antagonized by the NO synthase (NOS) inhibitor, N(G)-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME). During the microiontophoresis of GLU, the excitatory firing of STR neurons was also attenuated by addition of L-NAME while SNP application could enhance the excitation of the neurons. On the other hand, in the presence of GABA, SNP still excited the tested STR neurons. These results demonstrated that NOergic, GLUergic and GABAergic co-existed in the same STR neurons. NOergic and GLUergic were excitatory whereas GABAergic was inhibitory on the firing activity in STR neurons.