title: pH-dependent modulation of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor-mediated synaptic currents by histamine in rat hippocampus in vitro.
abstract: Modulation of excitatory postsynaptic currents by histamine was examined using whole cell recording methods in the CA1 region of slices of rat hippocampus. Histamine affected the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) component of the synaptic current in a pH-dependent manner: at lowered pH (7.2) it enhanced the NMDA-mediated synaptic currents while at raised pH (7.6) it reduced them. At a pH of 7.4 there was no significant action of histamine. Histamine failed to alter the non-NMDA component of the synaptic current. These results indicate that histamine acts at a postsynaptic site to modulate NMDA mediated synaptic currents in a pH dependent manner. This mechanism may have important implications for the pathophysiology of shifts in extracellular pH.
authors.affiliation: Physiologisches Institut II, Heinrich-Heine-Universität, Düsseldorf, Germany.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Saybasili
authors.forename: D R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Stevens
authors.forename: H L
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Haas
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000187:drug effects; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000187:drug effects*; D006632:Histamine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D017729:Presynaptic Terminals / Q000187:drug effects*; D051381:Rats; D016194:Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D016194:Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate; D006632:Histamine