Abstract

We examined the effect of ondansetron, an antagonist of type 3 serotonin receptors, on the whole cell response of freshly isolated hippocampal CA1 pyramidal neurons of neonatal and “mature” rats to glycine using the gramicidin perforated patch technique. Ondansetron depressed the current induced by subsaturating concentrations of glycine (I_Gly) in a concentration-dependent manner. The ondansetron concentration needed to depress I_Gly induced by 30 μM glycine to half amplitude was 25 μM. Ondansetron (54 μM) shifted the glycine concentration-response curve to the right in a parallel manner, increasing the EC₅₀ for glycine from 40 ± 3 μM to 70 ± 5 μM. Ondansetron increased the time constant of activation of I_Gly without affecting the time constant of deactivation. When examined under current clamp conditions, glycine induced depolarization and hyperpolarization in neonatal and mature neurons, respectively; ondansetron also suppressed these responses to glycine. The data suggest that ondansetron competitively inhibits the glycine receptor.