(The) effect of strychnine on membrane properties of spinal motoneurons in the cat
Authors
이규창
Issue Date
1974
Description
의학과/박사
Abstract
[한글]
The Effect of Strychnine en Membrane Properties of Spinal Motoneurons in The Cat
Kyu Chang Lee
Department of Medical Science The Graduate School, Yonsei University.
Max.Piuk-Institut for Brain Research Frankfurt am Main, Federal Republic of
Germany
(directed by Prof, warred R. Klee and Hun Jae Lee)
Introduction
The convulsant properties of strychnine have attracted the attention of
neuropharmacelogists for over 150 years (Wall et al .,1955). Strychnine has been
used as instrument for studies of experimental epilepsy(Dusser de Barenne, 1933 :
Chang 1951 : Wall and Horwitz, 1951 : Bremer, 1953 : Purpura and Grundfest. 1957 :
Goldring and O'Leary, 1960; Pollen and Sie. 1964), though its precise mode of
action has remained obscure.
One mechanism of action baa partially clarified in 1954 by the demonstration that
subconvulsive doses of strychnine reduce the amplitude of inhibitory postsynaptic
potentials (IPSPs) in cat spinal motoneurons (Ecoles et al, 1954). Because of the
rapid onset of its action arid the absence of effects upon monosynaptic excitatory
postsynaptic potentials (EPSPs), it was proposed that strychnine competed with come
unidentified transmitter for inhibitory receptor sites on the postsynaptic membrane
(Ecoles, 1957). Electrophoretic application of strychnine is known to block the
inhibitory effects of glycine, a likely candidate as an inhibitory transmitter on
motoneurons in the cat spinal cord(Werman et al, 1968 ; Curtis et aLl 1967, 1968 a
and b). A strychnine-resistant inhibition seems to exist rut only in the higher
portions of the central nervous system, but also for the spinal motoneuron
(Kellerth 1965 : Klee et al, 1966), Gamma amino butyric acid(GABA) is a candidate
for this synaptic transmitter (Curtis et lal., 1971).
In experimental epilepsy an increased excitation or excitability of the neurons
h7a to exist in order to elicite seizure discharges. This can be due to a reduced
resting membrane potential (RMP), to an increase in the synaptic excitation/or
reduced inhibition, or finally. in changes in the excitability of the cell membrane
due to changes in the characteristics of the electrically excitable ionic channels.
In thin study experiments were performed to (1) find the minimal intravenous dose
of strychnine which induces seizure in the isolated cerebral cortex and to compare
the doses necessary to induce seizure in the cortex with those needed in the apinal
cord (2) Under the assumption that strychnine might effect the membrane properties
of motoneurons directly, the antidromic action potential and RMP were measured
following successive injections of strychine up to 0.85 ne/kg. (3) In order to
discover whether the amplitude of the polsynaptic EPSPs were increased because of
blockade of an inhibitory component, different methods were u7ed to demonstrate the
presistance of a strychnine-resistant inhibitory component in the polysynaptic
EPSP. (4) Bicuculline, a known GABA antagonist (Curtis et al, 1968 a, 1971) was
injected for the blockade of strychnine-resistant inhibition (5) The
GABA-derivative Lioresal was compared with mephenesin (MY 301) in its antagonistic
action on seizures induced by strychnine or bicuculline.
Materials and Methods
Experiments were carried out on 35 cats of both sexes weighing from 1.5 to 3.5 kg
under Nembutal anesthesia (30 mg/kg, intraperitoneally). Surgical procedures
included tracheotomy. cannulation of the v. jugularis ext. and laminectomy at the
level from L3 to S1. Ventral roots L7 & S1 and dorsal roots L7 & S1 or peripheral
nerves of the left hindlimb were cut and prepared for stimulation. The animal was
fixed in a frame and respired artificially following intravenous injection of
Flaxedil (gallamine triethiodide, 2 mg/kg), Bilateral pneumothorax was clone.
Exposed tissues were covered with warm paraffin oil. The rectal temperature was
maintained at 37±1℃.
Intracellular recording of the motoneuron was made with single glass
micropipettes filled with 3M KCI having tip diameters ranging from 0.5 to 3 μ.
Motoneurons were identified by antidromic activation via the ventral roots. Only
cells with a membrane potential greater than 50 mV, a spikeamplitude greater than
60 mV, and a stable resting potential over a period of 20 to 30min were used for
analysis. Among 70 neurons penetrated only 28 neurons fullfilled all the
requirments noted.
Strychnine sulfate was dissolved in Ringer saline arid intravenously administered
in consecutive doses of either 0.10 7r 0.15 mg/kg. In some experiments, the
interactions between strychnine and GABA-derivative Lioresal (2 mg/kg), HY 301, i.
e. guaiacol glyceryl ether (50-100mg/kg) or bicuculline (0.25-0.50 mg/kg) were
studied
The difference in sensitivity between the cortex and the spinal cord for the
generation of spontaneous seizure due to convulsive doses of strychnine was
investigated in 4 cats using mass recording technique from the cortical surface and
from the dorsal part of the isolated spinal cord after section at the Cl-2 level
For these studies consecutive doses of strychnine, 0.10 to 0.50 mg/ kg, up to total
of 3.7 mg/kg were administered intravenously.
Results
Evoked potentials were recorded from the cord dorsum or the ventral root L7
following stimulation of dorsal root L7 or synergistic muscle nerve. Doses of
Strychnine inducing spontaneous seizure activity in the spinal cord were in the
range of 0.3 to 0.4mg/kg (0.35±0.07mg/kg) in 4 isolated spinal cords. Induced or
seizures of the spinal cord were represented by large positive waves.
Evoked potentials of the motor cortex were recorded following stimulation of
ventralis oralis posterior nucleus of the thalamus. In contrast to the spinal cord,
2.0 to 3.7 mg/kg (2.87±0.97mg/kg) of strychnine was required to elicite seizure in
the motor cortex Therefore, the convulsive dose of strychnine is about 8 times
higher for the cortex compared to the spinal cord, in the spinalized animal.
The effect of strychnine on the RMP of spinal motoneurona was inconsistent.
Maximum changes in the RMP within 15 min. following the first injection (0.1-0.15
mg/kg) are as follows : 10 neurons were depolarized by 0.5-10 mV(3.6±1.04 mV) and
5 other neurons were hyperpolarized by 1 to 5mV(2.4± 1.5 mV).
Strychnine also had no consistant effect on the antidromic action potential of
spinal motoneurons. With subconvulsive doses (0.1-0.2 mg/kg), 9 neurons showed
reduction of amplitude by 7-20 % and in 6 cases there were only minimal changes
(less than±5 %). In contrast, in 4 neurons the amplitude of the spike was
increased by 3-8%. With the doses of strychnine being rome to triter
cornvulsion(0.3-0.85 mg/kg) , the amplitude of the action potential was slightly
increased, slightly reduced or unchanged. The duration and rate of fall of the
action potential was relatively constant.
The monosynaptic EPSP elicited by electrical stimulation of the synergistic
muscle nerves or the dorsal root was not changed, either with subconvulsive or with
convulsive doses of strychnine. Polysynaptic EPSPs elicited by the suprathreshold
stimulation of the synergistic muscle nerve or the dorsal root, increased the
amplitude by 200-560%, even with subconvulaive fuses of strychnine, and their
duration lengthened by about 150 to 200%. The effect occurred with short latency
after drug injection and the depolarization often reached firing level, eliciting
action potentials. With convulsive theses, the enhanced EPSP gave to multiple
bursting discharges.
In order to estimate the extent to which the strychnine-dependent increase in
polysynaptic EPSP amplitude may be due to the blockade of inhibitory components
contaminating the EPSPs, different methods were used to check the EPSPs for IPSP
components. Before and following the injection of different amounts of strychnine,
polysynaptic EPSPS showed a conductance increase during their time course as
detected by a reduction in the amplitude of the antidromic spike, an increase in
amplitude when the RMP was increased by current injection, and a temporary increase
in amplitude when chloride ions were injected into the cell The
strychnine-resistant IPSPS mixed with the EPSPs court be rehuced by intravenous
injection of bicuoulline (0.25mg17g). The possibility that these results are 여e to
synaptic localization or a different transmitter substance being involved in the
generation of the polyaynaptic EPSP can not be ruled out.
Intravenous injection of MY 301 (50 mg/kg), a substance chemically similar to
mephenesin, resulted in the immediate blocking of discharges induced by strychnine.
This drug reduced the amplitude of the polysynaptic EPSPs, which had been enhanced
by strychnine. The membrane properties of the motoneurons were unchanged with the
doses of MY 301 blocking seizure activity.
Intravenous administration of a GABA-derivative, Lioresal (2mg/kg), also resulted
in immediate cessation of seizure activity and reduced the amplitude of the
polysynaptic EPSP. The RMP and the antidromic action potential were uncharged by
doses sufficient to block the effect of strychnine.
To conclude, it can be said that there were no consistant changes in the
motoneuron action potential which would reflect an action of strychnine upon the
motoneuron's membrane properties important to seizure generation. It is still to be
resorted whether the increase in polysynaptic EPSP amplitude is due to a strychnine
effect upon the membrane properties of excitatory interneurons or to an effect only
upon the inhibitory as well as excitatory postsynaptic potentials.
[영문]
Introduction
The convulsant properties of strychnine have attracted the attention of neuropharmacelogists for over 150 years (Wall et al .,1955). Strychnine has been used as instrument for studies of experimental epilepsy(Dusser de Barenne, 1933 : Chang 1951 : Wall and Horwitz, 1951 : Bremer, 1953 : Purpura and Grundfest. 1957 :
Goldring and O'Leary, 1960; Pollen and Sie. 1964), though its precise mode of action has remained obscure.
One mechanism of action baa partially clarified in 1954 by the demonstration that subconvulsive doses of strychnine reduce the amplitude of inhibitory postsynaptic potentials (IPSPs) in cat spinal motoneurons (Ecoles et al, 1954). Because of the rapid onset of its action arid the absence of effects upon monosynaptic excitatory postsynaptic potentials (EPSPs), it was proposed that strychnine competed with come unidentified transmitter for inhibitory receptor sites on the postsynaptic membrane (Ecoles, 1957). Electrophoretic application of strychnine is known to block the inhibitory effects of glycine, a likely candidate as an inhibitory transmitter on motoneurons in the cat spinal cord(Werman et al, 1968 ; Curtis et aLl 1967, 1968 a and b). A strychnine-resistant inhibition seems to exist rut only in the higher portions of the central nervous system, but also for the spinal motoneuron (Kellerth 1965 : Klee et al, 1966), Gamma amino butyric acid(GABA) is a candidate for this synaptic transmitter (Curtis et lal., 1971).
In experimental epilepsy an increased excitation or excitability of the neurons h7a to exist in order to elicite seizure discharges. This can be due to a reduced resting membrane potential (RMP), to an increase in the synaptic excitation/or
reduced inhibition, or finally. in changes in the excitability of the cell membrane due to changes in the characteristics of the electrically excitable ionic channels.
In thin study experiments were performed to (1) find the minimal intravenous dose of strychnine which induces seizure in the isolated cerebral cortex and to compare the doses necessary to induce seizure in the cortex with those needed in the apinal
cord (2) Under the assumption that strychnine might effect the membrane properties of motoneurons directly, the antidromic action potential and RMP were measured following successive injections of strychine up to 0.85 ne/kg. (3) In order to
discover whether the amplitude of the polsynaptic EPSPs were increased because of blockade of an inhibitory component, different methods were u7ed to demonstrate the presistance of a strychnine-resistant inhibitory component in the polysynaptic
EPSP. (4) Bicuculline, a known GABA antagonist (Curtis et al, 1968 a, 1971) was injected for the blockade of strychnine-resistant inhibition (5) The GABA-derivative Lioresal was compared with mephenesin (MY 301) in its antagonistic action on seizures induced by strychnine or bicuculline.
Materials and Methods
Experiments were carried out on 35 cats of both sexes weighing from 1.5 to 3.5 kg under Nembutal anesthesia (30 mg/kg, intraperitoneally). Surgical procedures included tracheotomy. cannulation of the v. jugularis ext. and laminectomy at the
level from L3 to S1. Ventral roots L7 & S1 and dorsal roots L7 & S1 or peripheral nerves of the left hindlimb were cut and prepared for stimulation. The animal was fixed in a frame and respired artificially following intravenous injection of Flaxedil (gallamine triethiodide, 2 mg/kg), Bilateral pneumothorax was clone. Exposed tissues were covered with warm paraffin oil. The rectal temperature was maintained at 37±1℃.
Intracellular recording of the motoneuron was made with single glass micropipettes filled with 3M KCI having tip diameters ranging from 0.5 to 3 μ. Motoneurons were identified by antidromic activation via the ventral roots. Only cells with a membrane potential greater than 50 mV, a spikeamplitude greater than 60 mV, and a stable resting potential over a period of 20 to 30min were used for analysis. Among 70 neurons penetrated only 28 neurons fullfilled all the requirments noted.
Strychnine sulfate was dissolved in Ringer saline arid intravenously administered in consecutive doses of either 0.10 7r 0.15 mg/kg. In some experiments, the interactions between strychnine and GABA-derivative Lioresal (2 mg/kg), HY 301, i.
e. guaiacol glyceryl ether (50-100mg/kg) or bicuculline (0.25-0.50 mg/kg) were studied
The difference in sensitivity between the cortex and the spinal cord for the generation of spontaneous seizure due to convulsive doses of strychnine was investigated in 4 cats using mass recording technique from the cortical surface and from the dorsal part of the isolated spinal cord after section at the Cl-2 level
For these studies consecutive doses of strychnine, 0.10 to 0.50 mg/ kg, up to total of 3.7 mg/kg were administered intravenously.
Results
Evoked potentials were recorded from the cord dorsum or the ventral root L7 following stimulation of dorsal root L7 or synergistic muscle nerve. Doses of Strychnine inducing spontaneous seizure activity in the spinal cord were in the range of 0.3 to 0.4mg/kg (0.35±0.07mg/kg) in 4 isolated spinal cords. Induced or seizures of the spinal cord were represented by large positive waves.
Evoked potentials of the motor cortex were recorded following stimulation of ventralis oralis posterior nucleus of the thalamus. In contrast to the spinal cord, 2.0 to 3.7 mg/kg (2.87±0.97mg/kg) of strychnine was required to elicite seizure in the motor cortex Therefore, the convulsive dose of strychnine is about 8 times higher for the cortex compared to the spinal cord, in the spinalized animal.
The effect of strychnine on the RMP of spinal motoneurona was inconsistent.
Maximum changes in the RMP within 15 min. following the first injection (0.1-0.15 mg/kg) are as follows : 10 neurons were depolarized by 0.5-10 mV(3.6±1.04 mV) and 5 other neurons were hyperpolarized by 1 to 5mV(2.4± 1.5 mV).
Strychnine also had no consistant effect on the antidromic action potential of spinal motoneurons. With subconvulsive doses (0.1-0.2 mg/kg), 9 neurons showed reduction of amplitude by 7-20 % and in 6 cases there were only minimal changes (less than±5 %). In contrast, in 4 neurons the amplitude of the spike was increased by 3-8%. With the doses of strychnine being rome to triter cornvulsion(0.3-0.85 mg/kg) , the amplitude of the action potential was slightly increased, slightly reduced or unchanged. The duration and rate of fall of the action potential was relatively constant.
The monosynaptic EPSP elicited by electrical stimulation of the synergistic muscle nerves or the dorsal root was not changed, either with subconvulsive or with convulsive doses of strychnine. Polysynaptic EPSPs elicited by the suprathreshold stimulation of the synergistic muscle nerve or the dorsal root, increased the
amplitude by 200-560%, even with subconvulaive fuses of strychnine, and their duration lengthened by about 150 to 200%. The effect occurred with short latency after drug injection and the depolarization often reached firing level, eliciting action potentials. With convulsive theses, the enhanced EPSP gave to multiple bursting discharges.
In order to estimate the extent to which the strychnine-dependent increase in polysynaptic EPSP amplitude may be due to the blockade of inhibitory components contaminating the EPSPs, different methods were used to check the EPSPs for IPSP components. Before and following the injection of different amounts of strychnine, polysynaptic EPSPS showed a conductance increase during their time course as detected by a reduction in the amplitude of the antidromic spike, an increase in amplitude when the RMP was increased by current injection, and a temporary increase in amplitude when chloride ions were injected into the cell The strychnine-resistant IPSPS mixed with the EPSPs court be rehuced by intravenous injection of bicuoulline (0.25mg17g). The possibility that these results are 여e to synaptic localization or a different transmitter substance being involved in the generation of the polyaynaptic EPSP can not be ruled out.
Intravenous injection of MY 301 (50 mg/kg), a substance chemically similar to mephenesin, resulted in the immediate blocking of discharges induced by strychnine. This drug reduced the amplitude of the polysynaptic EPSPs, which had been enhanced
by strychnine. The membrane properties of the motoneurons were unchanged with the doses of MY 301 blocking seizure activity.
Intravenous administration of a GABA-derivative, Lioresal (2mg/kg), also resulted in immediate cessation of seizure activity and reduced the amplitude of the polysynaptic EPSP. The RMP and the antidromic action potential were uncharged by
doses sufficient to block the effect of strychnine.
To conclude, it can be said that there were no consistant changes in the motoneuron action potential which would reflect an action of strychnine upon the motoneuron's membrane properties important to seizure generation. It is still to be resorted whether the increase in polysynaptic EPSP amplitude is due to a strychnine effect upon the membrane properties of excitatory interneurons or to an effect only upon the inhibitory as well as excitatory postsynaptic potentials.