Ethanol withdrawal results in aberrant membrane properties and synaptic responses in periaqueductal gray neurons associated with seizure susceptibility

Abstract

The midbrain periaqueductal gray (PAG) is implicated as a component of the neuronal network for ethanol withdrawal (ETX) seizures and in other forms of audiogenic seizure (AGS) in rats. Previous in vivo experiments suggest that neurons in the ventrolateral PAG (VL PAG) are required for generation of the clonic and tonic seizure behaviors of AGS. During these seizures, PAG neuronal firing rates increase markedly, but the intracellular events, contributing to this phenomenon, have not been characterized. In the present in vitro study, intracellular current-clamp recordings were obtained from 115 control VL PAG neurons and 71 neurons during ETX. The amount of depolarizing current that needed to be injected into ETX neurons in order to generate an action potential (AP) ( N=40) was significantly less than control ( N=52). ETX also yielded a significant leftward shift in the frequency–current curve of VL PAG neurons. VL PAG neurons during ETX had significantly enhanced spike firing tendencies, but the firing pattern was similar in ETX and control. ETX significantly increased the incidence of spontaneous APs and the frequency of firing above those in control. A number of cellular properties [e.g. resting membrane potential (RMP), amplitude of AP, AP width at half-height, input resistance and time constant] did not differ significantly between ETX and control neurons. The current–voltage ( I– V) relationships of the ETX and control VL PAG neurons were nearly linear between RMP and 80 mV more negative than RMP, whereas the I– V relation was non-linear beyond this range. Stimulation in the dorsolateral PAG in either ETX or control neurons evoked a fast excitatory postsynaptic potential (EPSP) and a slow inhibitory postsynaptic potential (IPSP). The stimulus intensities required to evoke EPSPs were significantly lower than control in neurons during ETX. Epileptiform firing was observed commonly (20%) during ETX but was never seen in control rats. Paired-pulse responses evoked paired-pulse inhibition in ∼80% of VL PAG neurons from control rats ( N=38), which was significantly above the incidence (12%) of this pattern during ETX ( N=25). Paired-pulse facilitation was significantly more common (88%) in VL PAG neurons ( N=25) during ETX compared to ∼20% in controls ( N=38). These aberrant membrane and synaptic properties provide direct evidence regarding the basis of the hyperexcitability observed in VL PAG neurons in vivo that contribute to propagation mechanisms of clonic and tonic convulsions, occurring during ETX.