title: Acidosis leads to brain dysfunctions through impairing cortical GABAergic neurons.
abstract: Acidosis, associated with metabolic disorders, leads to the pathological changes of cognition and behavior in the clinical practices of neurology and psychology. The cellular mechanisms underlying these cerebral dysfunctions remain unclear. By using electrophysiological approach and changing extracellular pH, we have investigated the effects of acidic environment on cortical GABAergic neurons in terms of their abilities of firing spikes and responses to synaptic inputs. Artificial cerebral spinal fluid in low pH impairs the responses to excitatory synaptic inputs and the abilities of encoding sequential spikes at these GABAergic neurons. The impairments of neuronal spiking are associated with the increases of refractory periods and threshold potentials. Our studies reveal that acidosis may impair cortical GABAergic neurons and in turn deteriorate brain functions, in which their final targets are voltage-gated sodium channels and glutamate receptor-channels.
authors.affiliation: The First Affiliated Hospital, Harbin Medical University, Harbin, Heilongjiang 150001, China.
authors.forename: Fang
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Xiaolin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Zhiqiang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Su
authors.forename: Ruihong
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sun
mesh_terms: D000138:Acidosis / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology*; D000818:Animals; D001927:Brain Diseases / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D051379:Mice; D008815:Mice, Inbred Strains; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D009435:Synaptic Transmission; D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid