The pharmacological stimulation of NMDA receptors via co-agonist site: an fMRI study in the rat brain.
d-Serine has been proposed as an endogenous modulator at the co-agonist glycine-binding site of N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptors. There is still some debate as to whether this site is saturated in vivo, but it seems likely that this depends on regional differences in local glycine or d-serine concentrations. In order to identify areas where the co-agonist site was not fully activated in vivo, we studied the effect of intraperitoneal d-serine administration in the rat brain using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Using contrast agent injection, the variations in the relative cerebral blood volume (CBVrel) in several regions of interest were evaluated. d-Serine (50 mg/kg) elicited a significant statistical increase in the CBVrel in the hippocampus. This effect was inhibited by the specific full antagonist of the co-agonist glycine site L-701,324 indicating that the hippocampal activation occurred through the binding of the agonist d-serine to the glycine-binding site of NMDA receptors. This result demonstrates that in the hippocampus, the co-agonist sites of NMDA receptors are not endogenously saturated under our experimental conditions, suggesting an important role of d-serine in the modulation of receptor function in the hippocampus.
Panizzutti
Rogério
R
Departamento de Anatomia, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Av. Pau Brasil s/n, 21940-900 Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil. rogerio@anato.ufrj.br
Rausch
Martin
M
Zurbrügg
Stefan
S
Baumann
Diana
D
Beckmann
Nicolau
N
Rudin
Markus
M
D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000098:blood supply / Q000187:drug effects*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D004347:Drug Interactions; D018691:Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists / Q000494:pharmacology*; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood; D015363:Quinolones / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D016194:Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D012694:Serine / Q000494:pharmacology
D018691:Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists; D015363:Quinolones; D016194:Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate; D012694:Serine; C094635:L 701324; D010100:Oxygen