Depression of fast excitatory synaptic transmission in large aspiny neurons of the neostriatum after transient forebrain ischemia

Spiny neurons in the neostriatum die within 24 hr after transient global ischemia, whereas large aspiny (LA) neurons remain intact. To reveal the mechanisms of such selective cell death after ischemia, excitatory neurotransmission was studied in LA neurons before and after ischemia. The intrastriatally evoked fast EPSCs in LA neurons were depressed ≤24 hr after ischemia. The concentration-response curves generated by application of exogenous glutamate in these neurons were approximately the same before and after ischemia. A train of five stimuli (100 Hz) induced progressively smaller EPSCs, but the proportion of decrease in EPSC amplitude at 4 hr after ischemia was significantly smaller compared with control and at 24 hr after ischemia. Parallel depression of NMDA receptor and AMPA receptor-mediated EPSCs was also observed after ischemia, supporting the involvement of presynaptic mechanisms. The adenosine A1 receptor antagonist 8-cyclopentyl-1,3-dipropylxanthine blocked the inhibition of evoked EPSCs at 4 hr after ischemia but not at 24 hr after ischemia. Electron microscopic studies demonstrated that the most presynaptic terminals in the striatum had a normal appearance at 4 hr after ischemia but showed degenerating signs at 24 hr after ischemia. These results indicated that the excitatory neurotransmission in LA neurons was depressed after ischemia via presynaptic mechanisms. The depression of EPSCs shortly after ischemia might be attributable to the enhanced adenosine A1 receptor function on synaptic transmission, and the depression at late time points might result from the degeneration of presynaptic terminals.