Release of γ‐[3H]Aminobutyric Acid from Rat Olfactory Bulb and Substantia Nigra: Differential Modulation by Glutamic Acid

Abstract

We have studied the glutamate modulation of .gamma.-[3H]aminobutyric acid ([3H]GABA) release from GABAergic dendrites of the external plexiform layer of the olfactory bulb and for GABAergic axons of the substantia nigra. In the olfactory bulb, [3H]GABA release was induced by high K+ and kainate, and not by aspartate and glutamate alone. However, when the tissue was conditioned by a previous K+ depolarization, glutamate and aspartate caused [3H]GABA release. The effect of glutamate was significantly enhanced when the GABA uptake mechanism was blocked by nipecotic acid. N-Methyl-D-aspartate and quisqualate did not cause [3H]GABA release under the same conditions. The acidic amino acid receptor antagonist 2-amino-4-phosphobutyric acid and the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonist 2-amino-5-phosphonovaleric acid significantly inhibited the K+-glutamate- and the kainate-induced [3H]GABA release. Mg2+ (5 mM), which blocks the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors, significantly inhibited the K+-glutamate-induced but not the kainic acid-induced [3H]GABA release. The K+glutamate-stimulated release, but not the K+-stimulated [3H]GABA release, was strongly inhibited by Na+-free solutions or by 300 nM tetrodotoxin. Apparently the glutamate-induced release of [3H]GABA occurs through an interneuron because it is dependent on the presence of nerve conduction. In the substantia nigra no [3H]GABA release was elicited by any of the glutamate agonists tested. The present results clearly differentiate between the effects of glutatmate on the release of [3H]GABA from the substantia nigra and from the olfactory bulb. It is possible that in the external plexiform layer of the olfactory bulb there is a mixed population of voltage-dependent excitatory amino acid receptors, capable of modulating GABA release through an interneuron. In the substantia nigra glutamate does not modulate GABA release.