Long-term changes in hippocampal n-methyl- d-aspartate receptor subunits following unilateral vestibular damage in rat

• Published in: Neuroscience Vol. 117; no. 4; pp. 965 - 970
• Main Authors: Liu, P, Zheng, Y, King, J, Darlington, C.L, Smith, P.F
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 01.01.2003; Elsevier
• Subjects: AMPA; Animals; Biological and medical sciences; Denervation; Dentate Gyrus - metabolism; Dentate Gyrus - physiopathology; Down-Regulation - physiology; Functional Laterality - physiology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; hippocampus; Hippocampus - metabolism; Hippocampus - physiopathology; Immunohistochemistry; labyrinth; Memory Disorders - etiology; Memory Disorders - pathology; Memory Disorders - physiopathology; Motor control and motor pathways. Reflexes. Control centers of vegetative functions. Vestibular system and equilibration; NMDA; Rats; Receptors, AMPA - metabolism; Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate - metabolism; Synaptic Transmission - physiology; unilateral vestibular deafferentation; Vertebrates: nervous system and sense organs; Vestibular Diseases - complications; Vestibule, Labyrinth - injuries; Vestibule, Labyrinth - physiopathology; unilateral vestibular deafferentation; UVD; AMPA; hippocampus; nNOS; SHAM; NMDA; LTP; SN; CONT; Rat; Rodentia; Central nervous system; Labyrinth; Glutamate receptor; Subunit; Vertebrata; Mammalia; Vestibular system; Deafferentation; NMDA receptor; Hippocampus; Brain (vertebrata)
• ISSN: 0306-4522; 1873-7544
• DOI: 10.1016/S0306-4522(02)00878-3

Previous studies have indicated that damage to the peripheral vestibular system results in dysfunction of hippocampal place cells and an impairment of spatial learning and memory. The aim of this study was to determine whether lesions of one vestibular labyrinth (unilateral vestibular deafferentation, UVD) result in changes in the expression of the NR1 and NR2A subunits of the N-methyl- d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor, and the GluR2 subunit of the α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole propionate receptor, in subregions of the rat hippocampus (CA1, CA2/3 and the dentate gyrus) at 10 h or 2 weeks following UVD. Compared with sham surgery controls and anaesthetic controls, the expression of the NR1 subunit was significantly reduced in the ipsilateral CA2/3 region at 2 weeks post-UVD. The expression of the NR2A subunit was also significantly reduced in the ipsilateral CA2/3 and, to a smaller extent, in the contralateral CA2/3 region, at 2 weeks post-UVD. The only other change in NR2A expression was an increase in the ipsilateral CA1 at 10 h post-UVD. No other changes in NR1, NR2A or GluR2 expression were observed in any hippocampal subregion, at any time point, or in cortical tissue at any time point. These results suggest that UVD may result in long-term changes in NMDA receptor subunit expression in the rat hippocampus.