gamma-Aminobutyric acid (GABA), the major inhibitory neurotransmitter in brain, is known to interact with a subclass of receptors that activate a ligand-gated chloride ion channel. Exposure of cultured embryonic chick neurons to physiological concentrations of GABA results in a time-dependent down-regulation of these GABAA receptors. To delineate the cellular mechanism(s) responsible for agonis...

Fluid accumulation is critical for lung distension and normal development. The multi-subunit γ-amino butyric acid type A receptors (GABAA) mainly act by mediating chloride ion (Cl-) fluxes. Since fetal lung actively secretes Cl--rich fluid, we investigated the role of GABAA receptors in fetal lung development. The physiological ligand, GABA, and its synthesizing enzyme, glutamic acid decarboxyl...

1. Experiments were carried out using patch-clamp techniques in rat thalamic slices, maintained in vitro, to examine the effects of the benzodiazepine compound, clonazepam (CZP), on intrathalamic inhibition. Bath-applied CZP reduced the gamma-aminobutyric acid-B (GABAB) component of inhibitory postsynaptic potentials and currents (IPSPs and IPSCs, respectively) evoked in rat thalamic somatosens...

Extracts from Glycyrrhiza are traditionally used for the treatment of insomnia and anxiety. Glabridin is one of the main flavonoid compounds from Glycyrrhiza glabra and displays a broad range of biological properties. In the present work, we investigated the effect of glabridin on GABAA receptors. For this purpose, we employed the two-electrode voltage-clamp technique on Xenopus laevis oocytes ...

objective: argemone mexicana is a papaveracea plant; some reports have shown their antibacterial, anti-cancer, sedative and probably anti-anxiety properties. from their aerial parts, flavonoids and alkaloids have been isolated, which are intrinsically related to some actions on the central nervous system. the aim of this study was to evaluate the anxiolytic-like effects of the plant, using its ...

background: estradiol and progesterone as well as hippocampal gabaa receptors are believed to play a role in the modulation of pain. the aim of present study was to investigate the effect of intrahippocampal injections of gabaa receptor agonist (muscimol) and gabaa receptor antagonist (picrotoxin) on pain sensitivity during estrous cycle. methods: pain sensitivity was evaluated in rats by forma...

GABAA receptors mediate fast inhibitory neurotransmission in the brain. Dysfunction of these receptors is associated with various psychiatric/neurological disorders and drugs targeting this receptor are widely used therapeutic agents. Both the efficacy and plasticity of GABAA receptor-mediated neurotransmission depends on the number of surface GABAA receptors. An understudied aspect of receptor...

Midbrain dopaminergic (DA) neurons in vivo exhibit two major firing patterns: singlespike firing and burst firing. The firing pattern expressed is dependent upon both the intrinsic properties of the neurons and their excitatory and inhibitory synaptic inputs. Experimental data suggest that the activation of NMDA and GABAA receptors is a crucial contributor to the initiation and suppression of b...

GABAergic synaptic transmission plays an important role in resetting and synchronizing circadian rhythms in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN). Although the circadian modulation of intrinsic membrane currents and biochemical signaling have been examined in the SCN, the modulation of specific synaptic pathways within the SCN is unexplored. In addition, little is known about the functional propert...