GLT-1 upregulation impairs prepulse inhibition of the startle reflex in adult rats

✍ Scribed by Michele Bellesi; Marcello Melone; Alessandro Gubbini; Silvia Battistacci; Fiorenzo Conti

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2009
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 235 KB
• Volume: 57
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0894-1491
• DOI: 10.1002/glia.20798

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

We tested the hypothesis that glutamate transporter GLT‐1 (also known as EAAT2) plays a role in the regulation of prepulse inhibition (PPI) of the acoustic startle reflex, a simple form of information processing which is reduced in schizophrenia. To do this, we studied PPI in rats treated with ceftriaxone (200 mg/kg/day for 8 days), an antibiotic that selectively enhances GLT‐1 expression and activity. We showed that ceftriaxone‐induced GLT‐1 upregulation is associated with impaired PPI of the startle, that this effect is reversed by dihydrokainate, a GLT‐1 antagonist, that GLT‐1 expression correlates negatively with PPI, and that PPI normalizes when GLT‐1a levels return to baseline. Our data indicate that GLT‐1 regulates PPI of the startle reflex. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.