Age-induced Loss of the Functional Link Between Benzodiazepine and GABA Binding Sites in the Rat Retina

Abstract

This chapter discusses the age-induced loss of the functional link between benzodiazepine and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) binding sites in the rat retina. The chapter presents the changes in the number and sensitivity of benzodiazepine, and the GABA binding sites in the rat retina during postnatal development, adulthood, and ageing. Male and female Sprague–Dawley rats obtained from the “Italian Study Group on Brain Ageing” were used. Their ages varied between 7, 15, 30, and 60 days, and 3, 6, 12, and 26 months, and the rats were killed by decapitation during the light phase of the photo cycle, their eyes excised, and both retinas rapidly dissected under the room light. As revealed by the Scatchard plot analysis of saturation data carried out on retinas from rats of different ages, the increase in benzodiazepine and GABA binding with age was almost entirely because of an increase in the total number of binding sites (Bmax).