Cardiovascular effects of intracerebroventricular GABA, glycine and muscimol in the rat

Abstract

Intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) injections of gammaaminobutyric acid (GABA, 125–2,000 μg), glycine (250–2,000 μg) and muscimol (0.5–4 μg) caused dose-dependent reductions of blood pressure and heart rate in conscious rats. Low doses of muscimol (<0.12 μg) were hypertensive. The cardiovascular depression induced by GABA was antagonized by bicuculline (3.5 mg/kg i.p.), while that induced by glycine was counteracted more effectively by strychnine (0.7 mg/kg i.v.) than by bicuculline. The cardiovascular response to GABA, but not to glycine, was potentiated by pretreatment with pentobarbitone (50 mg/kg i.p.). It was prolonged by diazepam (5 mg/kg i.p.) and aminooxyacetic acid (AOAA, 25 mg/kg i.p., 4h) but not by AOAA (1 h) or nipecotic acid (1–100 μg i.c.v.). Following treatment with d-amphetamine (5 mg/kg i.p.) or reserpine (10 mg/kg i.p., 6h) the cardiovascular depression induced by GABA was attenuated. Propranolol (2.5+2.5 mg/kg i.v. + s.c.) or atropine (2 mg/kg i.v.) alone partially counteracted and in combination completely prevented the negative chronotropic response to GABA. Neither central noradrenaline depletion by means of α-MMT (after carbidopa) and α-MT nor pretreatment with phenoxybenzamine (20 μg i.c.v.) influenced the response to GABA. The arterial hypotension induced by GABA was prolonged after a high dose of atropine (10 mg/kg i.v.) but appeared attenuated by a low dose (2 mg/kg i.v.) or by physostigmine (0.1 mg/kg i.v.). Central serotonergic activation by means of 5-hydroxytryptophan after benzerazid antagonized the cardiovascular actions of GABA. Spiroperidol (0.05 mg/kg i.v.) and apomorphine (1 mg/kg i.v.) did not affect the blood pressure reduction in response to GABA.