title: Inhibitory effect of pentobarbital on phospholipase C activity in ischaemic rat brain.
abstract: Ischaemic rat brains were examined for temporal changes in phospholipase C activity with phosphatidylinositol; the effects of pentobarbital on the activity also were investigated. Ischaemia was produced by decapitation. Pentobarbital (60 mg/kg) was administered i.p. for 15 min before decapitation. The removed heads were incubated at 37 degrees C for 1, 5, 15 or 30 min and then quickly frozen in liquid nitrogen. After isolation of subcellular fractions from the brains, phospholipase C activity was measured for cytosol and microsomes, using radioactive phosphatidylinositol as a substrate. The results demonstrated that brain phospholipase C predominantly localized in the cytosol was dependent on Ca2+ for full activity and had neutral pH optima. Although the enzyme activity did not increase during ischaemia, pentobarbital inhibited phospholipase C activity in the cytosol but not in the microsomes. These observations suggest that pentobarbital may exert a cerebral protective action due to, at least in part, the repression of phospholipase C followed by a reduction of phosphatidylinositol breakdown, preventing perturbation to the integrity of membranes, during ischaemia.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology*; D002545:Brain Ischemia / Q000201:enzymology*; D002118:Calcium / Q000494:pharmacology; D004492:Edetic Acid / Q000494:pharmacology; D008297:Male; D010424:Pentobarbital / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D010738:Type C Phospholipases / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D004492:Edetic Acid; D010738:Type C Phospholipases; D010424:Pentobarbital; D002118:Calcium