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Anoxia selectively depresses excitatory synaptic transmission in hippocampal slices
1Anaesthesia Research, Department, McGill University, Montréal, Qué., Canada.
Abstract:
EPSPs/IPSPs were recorded with intracellular electrodes from CA1 neurons close to site of stimulation. Brief anoxia (3 min) abolished EPSPs but reduced IPSPs by 64.8 +/- 4.0% (n = 10); the remaining IPSP was presumed to be monosynaptic. The effects of anoxia on purely monosynaptic IPSPs were examined after pharmacological blockade of excitatory synaptic transmission with 2 mM kynurenate or 20 microM CNQX + 20 microM APV. In these tests, after 3 min of anoxia the slopes of IPSPs vs. membrane potential were reduced by only 38.2 +/- 4.3% (n = 12). The present study demonstrates that, contrary to previous reports, inhibitory synaptic transmission is quite resistant to anoxia.