The aspirin metabolite salicylate enhances neuronal excitation in rat hippocampal CA1 area through reducing GABAergic inhibition.
Salicylate is the major metabolite and active component of aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid), which is widely used in clinical medicine for treating inflammation, pain syndromes and cardiovascular disorders. The well-known mechanism underlying salicylate's action mainly involves the inhibition of cyclooxygenase and subsequent decrease in prostaglandin production. Recent evidence suggests that salicylate also affects neuronal function through interaction with specific membrane channels/receptors. However, the effect of salicylate on synaptic and neural network function remains largely unknown. In this study, we investigated the effect of sodium salicylate on the synaptic transmission and neuronal excitation in the hippocampal CA1 area of rats, a key structure for many complex brain functions. With electrophysiological recordings in hippocampal slices, we found that sodium salicylate significantly enhanced neuronal excitation through reducing inhibitory GABAergic transmission without affecting the basal excitatory synaptic transmission. Salicylate significantly inhibited the amplitudes of both evoked and miniature inhibitory postsynaptic currents, and directly reduced gamma-aminobutyric acid type A (GABA(A)) receptor-mediated responses in cultured rat hippocampal neurons. Together, our results suggest that the widely used aspirin might impair hippocampal synaptic and neural network functions through its actions on GABAergic neurotransmission. Given the capability of aspirin to penetrate the blood-brain barrier, the present data imply that aspirin intake may cause network hyperactivity and be potentially harmful in susceptible subpopulations.
Gong
Neng
N
Department of Neurobiology and Biophysics, School of Life Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230027, China
Zhang
Min
M
Zhang
Xiao-Bing
XB
Chen
Lin
L
Sun
Guang-Chun
GC
Xu
Tian-Le
TL
D000818:Animals; D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001241:Aspirin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004594:Electrophysiology; D019706:Excitatory Postsynaptic Potentials / Q000187:drug effects; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects*; D008297:Male; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects*; D018408:Patch-Clamp Techniques; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D011963:Receptors, GABA-A / Q000187:drug effects; D012459:Salicylates / Q000494:pharmacology*; D009435:Synaptic Transmission / Q000187:drug effects; D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid / Q000502:physiology*
D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal; D011963:Receptors, GABA-A; D012459:Salicylates; D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid; D001241:Aspirin