Recent evidence indicates that long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) can prevent cardiac arrhythmias by a reduction of cardiomyocyte excitability. This was shown to be due to a modulation of the voltage-dependent inactivation of both sodium (INa) and calcium (ICa) currents. To establish whether PUFAs also regulate neuronal excitability, the effects of PUFAs on INa and ICa were assessed in CAl neurons freshly isolated from the rat hippocampus. Extracellular application of PUFAs produced a concentrationdependent shift of the voltage dependence of inactivation of both INa and ICa to more hyperpolarized potentials. Consequently, they accelerated the inactivation and retarded the recovery from inactivation. The EC50 for the shift of the INa steady-state inactivation curve was 2.1 + 0.4 ,uM for docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and 4 + 0.4 ,uM for eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA). The EC50 for the shift on the ICa inactivation curve was 2.1 + 0.4 for DHA and >15 ,uM for EPA. Additionally, DHA

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