title: Possible modulation of auditory middle latency responses by nitric oxide in the inferior colliculus of anaesthetized rats.
abstract: Nitric oxide (NO) is a short-lived radical species endowed with intercellular signalling functions in the mammalian brain. In the present study we have investigated the effects of focal injection into one inferior colliculus of N omega-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME), a nitric oxide synthase inhibitor, on the acoustic middle latency responses (MLRs) evoked by click stimuli and recorded from the auditory cortex in anaesthetized rats. Microinfusion of L-NAME (1.0 mM) did not alter the latency of MLRs nor did it affect the evoked brain stem responses (ABRs). By contrast, L-NAME reduced P1a-N1 amplitude of MLRs by 51.7 +/- 6.6% (mean +/- SEM; n = 5) and almost complete recovery to background amplitude was obtained 15-25 min after treatment. The less active isomer, D-NAME (1.0 mM; n = 5), failed to produce consistent effects on the evoked MLRs. A higher concentration of L-NAME (5.0 mM; n = 5) yielded a 69.0 +/- 13.3% inhibition whereas maximum inhibition produced by 0.5 mM (n = 3) L-NAME was approximately equal to 10% of control value. The inhibitory effect typically evoked by 1.0 mM L-NAME was prevented by treating rats with L-arginine (5.0 mM; n = 5), the endogenous precursor of NO synthesis. Reduction of MLR amplitude was also obtained in rats receiving intracollicular injection of dizocilpine (MK801; 1.0 microM) and LY274614 (1.0 mM), two selective N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonists. In conclusion, the present data support a role for intracollicular NO in the processing and transmission of the acoustic input to the auditory cortex in the rat.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Human Physiology, Catholic University S. Cuore, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Grassi
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Santarelli
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nisticò
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bagetta
authors.forename: G B
authors.initials: GB
authors.lastname: Azzena
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000818:Animals; D001120:Arginine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000494:pharmacology; D016291:Dizocilpine Maleate / Q000494:pharmacology; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology*; D016057:Evoked Potentials, Auditory, Brain Stem / Q000187:drug effects*; D018691:Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists / Q000494:pharmacology; D007245:Inferior Colliculi / Q000187:drug effects*; D007546:Isoquinolines / Q000494:pharmacology; D008297:Male; D019331:NG-Nitroarginine Methyl Ester; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D009569:Nitric Oxide / Q000502:physiology*; D019001:Nitric Oxide Synthase / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors; D018691:Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists; D007546:Isoquinolines; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents; C070935:LY 274614; D009569:Nitric Oxide; D016291:Dizocilpine Maleate; D001120:Arginine; D019001:Nitric Oxide Synthase; D019331:NG-Nitroarginine Methyl Ester