Vol. 300, Issue 2, 408-416, February 2002

Pharmacological Protection of Synaptic Function, Spatial Learning, and Memory from Transient Hypoxia in Rats

Miao-Kun Sun, Hui Xu and Daniel L. Alkon

Blânchette Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute, Rockville, Maryland; and Laboratory of Adaptive Systems, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke/National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland

Hypoxia significantly reduced cholinergic  activity in rat CA1 field and intracellular  in the CA1 pyramidal cells, recorded in hippocampal slices. The hypoxic responses of the hippocampal CA1 pyramidal cells to a brief hypoxia consisted of a short period of "synaptic arrest", observed as an elimination of excitatory postsynaptic current under voltage clamp and recovered immediately as oxygenation was reinitiated. The hypoxic synaptic arrest was not associated with reduced postsynaptic responses of the pyramidal cells to externally applied L-glutamate, suggesting that the synaptic arrest might result from a presynaptic mechanism. The hypoxic synaptic arrest was abolished in the presence of 8-cyclopentyl-1,3-dipropylxanthine (DPCPX), a specific adenosine A₁ receptor antagonist. Blocking adenosine A₁ receptors also eliminated effects of hypoxia on the hippocampal CA1 field  activity and intracellular  of the CA1 pyramidal cells. In behaving rats, brief hypoxia impaired their water maze performance in both the escape latency and probe tests. The impairment was prevented by intralateral cerebroventricular injections of DPCPX. These results suggest that hypoxia releases adenosine and produces an inhibition of synaptic transmission and intracellular signal cascade(s) involved in generation/maintenance of hippocampal CA1  activity. This protection of synaptic efficacy and spatial learning through adenosine A₁ receptor antagonism may represent an effective therapeutic strategy to eliminate functional interruption due to transient hypoxic episodes and/or chronic hypoxia secondary to compromise of respiratory function.