Differences in electrophysiological properties between neurones of the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus in rat and guinea pig

Abstract

We have examined the electrophysiological properties of neurones in the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus (DMV) in rats and guinea pigs in transverse medullary slices maintained in vitro. There were only minor differences in the morphology of the neurones between the species, and their passive electrical properties were very similar. However, action potentials in guinea pig neurones had larger amplitudes and longer half-widths than did those in rat neurones. In both species, action potentials were followed by prolonged afterhyperpolarisations (AHPs). In the majority of guinea pig neurones, two calcium-activated potassium currents underlying the AHP could be separated into an early apamin-sensitive component and a late apamin-insensitive component. In rat neurones, the current underlying the AHP was briefer and entirely apamin-sensitive. In response to a step of depolarising current, neurones in the guinea pig only discharged once or twice and then ceased firing. In rat neurones, this manoeuvre produced repetitive firing. An inward rectifier was larger in neurones of the guinea pig than in those in the rat. The effects of 5-hydroxytryptamine and noradrenaline also differed between neurones of each species. We conclude that, despite many similarities of size and electrical properties, DMV neurones in the two species differ in terms of several voltage- and calcium-dependent conductances which determine their active electrical behaviour.