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Updated: Jun 26, 2026

Patch Clamp Recordings on Intact Dorsal Root Ganglia from Adult Rats
Published on: September 29, 2016
TRPA1 activation by lidocaine in nerve terminals results in glutamate release increase
Lian-Hua Piao1, Tsugumi Fujita, Chang-Yu Jiang
1Department of Physiology, Saga Medical School, 5-1-1 Nabeshima, Saga 849-8501, Japan.
Abstract:
We examined the effects of local anesthetics lidocaine and procaine on glutamatergic spontaneous excitatory transmission in substantia gelatinosa (SG) neurons in adult rat spinal cord slices with whole-cell patch-clamp techniques. Bath-applied lidocaine (1-5 mM) dose-dependently and reversibly increased the frequency but not the amplitude of spontaneous excitatory postsynaptic current (sEPSC) in SG neurons. Lidocaine activity was unaffected by the Na(+)-channel blocker, tetrodotoxin, and the TRPV1 antagonist, capsazepine, but was inhibited by the TRP antagonist, ruthenium red. In the same neuron, the TRPA1 agonist, allyl isothiocyanate, and lidocaine both increased sEPSC frequency. In contrast, procaine did not produce presynaptic enhancement. These results indicate that lidocaine activates TRPA1 in nerve terminals presynaptic to SG neurons to increase the spontaneous release of L-glutamate.
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