Effects of domoic acid on membrane function of primary cultured rat glial cells

Abstract

To study the effects of domoic acid (DA) on membrane function of primary cultured rat glial cell. After the glial cells were treated with 6.4 x 10(-2), 6.4 x 10(-3) and 6.4 x 10(-4) micromol/L DA for 24 h, the activities of Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase and Ca(2+)-Mg(2+)-ATPase, the membrane fluidity and the permeability were measured to reflect the membrane function. After treatment of DA for 24 h, the activities of Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase and Ca(2+)-Mg(2+)-ATPase were inhibited significantly, the membrane fluidity decreased and the membrane permeability increased. The fluorescence polarization and microviscosity in the low, middle and high dosage treatment groups were 0.0626 +/- 0.0051, 0.0685 +/- 0.0097, 0.0648 +/- 0.0086 and 0.3154 +/- 0.0298, 0.3510 +/- 0.0571, 0.3286 +/- 0.0504 respectively, compared with the control group (0.0481 +/- 0.0069 and 0.2338 +/- 0.0372) (P < 0.01). DA has obvious effects on membrane function of rat glial cells and may cause further injury on the cells.