EFFECTS OF GAMMA-AMINOBUTYRIC ACID-A RECEPTOR ANTAGONIST, BICUCULLINE, ON THE ELECTRICAL-ACTIVITY OF LUTEINIZING-HORMONE-RELEASING HORMONE PULSE-GENERATOR IN THE OVARIECTOMIZED RAT

The role of GABA neurons in the control of pulsatile release of LHRH was investigated by checking the effect of the GABA(A) receptor agonist, muscimol, and antagonist, bicuculline, on the electrical activity of the luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH) pulse generator in the ovariectomized rat fitted with chronically implanted electrode arrays in the medial basal hypothalamus. In untreated control animals, the hypothalamic multiunit activity (MUA) exhibited, at an average of 20.5-min intervals, characteristic increases (volleys), each of which was associated with the initiation of an LH pulse. A bolus i.v. injection of muscimol (2 mg/kg) significantly increased the interval between MUA volleys and LH pulses without affecting the pulse amplitude. Continuous i.v. infusion of saline increased the interval between MUA volleys to an average of 24.1 min without affecting the LH pulse amplitudes. Bicuculline infusion (10 mg/kg/h) altered neither the interval between MUA volleys nor the pulsatile release of LH. This was further checked in the condition where presynaptic inhibition by opioid peptides on the noradrenergic system was presumably decreased by naloxone. Naloxone infusion (0.5 or 0.7 mg/kg/h) caused the MUA volleys to occur markedly frequently, an average of 13.8-min intervals. The interval during combined infusion of bicuculline with naloxone was an average of 16.2 min, suggesting that bicuculline could not decrease the interval that was set by naloxone. The results show that, although exogenous GABA(A) receptor agonist is capable of inhibiting the activity of LHRH pulse generator, the reduction in the endogenous GABA(A) receptor activity does not cause a significant effect, suggesting a minor role of inhibitory GABA neurons in the control of pulsatile release of LHRH. Further, together with the well-known fact that activation of GABA(A) receptor hyperpolarizes neurons postsynaptically, it is assumed that the GABAergic system, unlike the opioidergic one, is not involved in the presynaptic inhibition of the adrenergic receptor system which is probably implicated in the frequency control of LHRH pulse generator.