EFFECT OF PENTOBARBITAL ON THE SPONTANEOUS EFFLUX OF GAMMA-AMINO ACIDS FROM RABBIT RETINA

The effect of pentobarbitone on the spontaneous release of radioactivity from rabbit retinas preloaded with [3H]GABA, [3H]DABA, [3H]β-alanine and [3H]glycine was studied. In high concentration of pentobarbitone (10-3 M) the rate of spontaneous efflux of neuronal [3H]GABA, [3H]DABA and [3H]β-alanine was reduced but not that of [3H]glycine. Glial release of [3H]GABA was much less influenced. At lower concentrations (10-4-10-5 M) there was an initial increase in the release of [3H]GABA, [3H]DABA and [3H]β-alanine followed by a decrease, indicating several components in the release systems for the amino acids. © 1979.