• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.1 no.5
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• pp.467-475
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• 1997

Although one of the major physiological functions of taurine(2-aminoethanesulfonic acid) is the inhibitory action on the central nervous system(CNS), the mechanism of taurine in controlling the neuronal excitation in the CNS has been in controversy. Electrically evoked pEPSP and spontaneous activity induced by the perfusion of low $Mg^{++}-ACSF$ were recorded in the CA1 pyramidal cell layer of the hippocampal slice. To test the inhibitory effect of taurine on spontaneous responses, taurine was treated for 2 min at various concentrations(1 mM-10 mM). Taurine reduced the spontaneous activity by 22.2% at 1 mM, and 100% at 2 mM in low $Mg^{++}-ACSF$. Evoked response was induced by electrical stimulation of Schaffer collateral-commissural fibers. Taurine reduced the evoked response by 11.68% at 3 mM, and 24.25% at 5 mM. Even 20 mM of taurine reduced the evoked response only by 24 % after 5 min treatment. That is, the inhibitory efficacy was much higher in spontaneous activity than in evoked response. The $GABA_A$ receptor antagonist, 100 uM bicuculline, blocked the inhibitory action of taurine, while $GABA_B$ receptor antagonist, 700 uM phaclofen, did not. Taurine blocked the spontaneous activity in the presence of CNQX, and did not block the electrically evoked responce in the presence of APV. The results suggest that taurine causes hyperpolarization in the cell by binding to $GABA_A$ receptor and preferentially attenuates NMDA receptor-mediated hyperexcitation, leaving synaptic transmission unmodified.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.191-204
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• 1990

Trimethyltin (TMT) induced lesions in the rat hippocampal formation was reviewed. Adult rats were treated with a single dose of 6.0 mg TMT/kg b.w. and were sacrificed between 3-60 days following exposure. On the hippocampal formation, the granule cells of fascia dentata showed early changes which subsided considerably at a later time when the destruction of the pyramidal neurons of the Ammon's horn became increasingly pronounced with time, leading to severe destruction of the structure. It is interesting to note that there was an inverse relationship of pathological involvement between the f.d. granule cells and the Ammon's horn neurons; i.e., when there was a large sparing of the granule cells. there was an extensive damage to the Ammon's horn and vice versa. This inverse relationship was also true between the $CA_3$neurons and the $CA_{1,2}$neurons in the Ammon's horn. Progressive zinc loss, as demonstrated by Timm's method, on the Mossy fibers was also observed. Similar Mossy fiber zinc depletion has been demonstrated in electrical stimulatory excitation condition of the perforant path to the hippocampus. Depletion of corticosterone, an inhibitor to the hippocampal neurons, by means of adrenalectomy will exaggerate the TMT induced hippocampal lesion. Neonatal study revealed that a unique degenerative pattern of the Ammon's horn could be established in accordance with exposure to TMT at specific maturation periods of the fippocampal formation: increasing destruction of the Ammon's horn with increasing synaptogenesis between the f.d. granule cells and the Ammon's horn neurons. Thus it is apparent that the damage of the Ammon's horn, upon exposure to TMT, may depend on the integrity and functional state of the f.d. granule cells. A hyperexcitory scheme and mechanism as the toxicity basis of TMT in the hippocampal formation is proposed and discussed.