Activation of Glutamate Neurotransmission in the Prefrontal Cortex Sustains the Motoric and Dopaminergic Effects of Phencyclidine

166

162

The administration of noncompetitive N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonists such as phencyclidine and ketamine has been shown to increase the extracellular concentration of glutamate and serotonin (5-HT) in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). In the present work, we used in vivo microdialysis to examine the effects of the more potent noncompetitive NMDA receptor antagonist, MK-801, on the efflux of glutamate and 5-HT in the mPFC, and whether the MK-801-induced changes in the cortical efflux of both transmitters could be blocked by clozapine and haloperidol given systemically or intra-mPFC. The systemic, but not the local administration of MK-801, induced an increased efflux of 5-HT and glutamate, which suggests that the NMDA receptors responsible for these effects are located outside the mPFC, possibly in GABAergic neurons that tonically inhibit glutamatergic inputs to the mPFC. The MK-801-induced increases of extracellular glutamate and 5-HT were dependent on nerve impulse and the activation of mPFC AMPA/ kainate receptors as they were blocked by tetrodotoxin and NBQX, respectively. Clozapine and haloperidol blocked the MK-801-induced increase in glutamate, whereas only clozapine was able to block the increased efflux of 5-HT. The local effects of clozapine and haloperidol paralleled those observed after systemic administration, which emphasizes the relevance of the mPFC as a site of action of these antipsychotic drugs in offsetting the neurochemical effects of MK-801. The ability of clozapine to block excessive cortical 5-HT efflux elicited by MK-801 might be related to the superior efficacy of this drug in treating negative/cognitive symptoms of schizophrenia.

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Clozapine and Haloperidol Differently Suppress the MK-801-Increased Glutamatergic and Serotonergic Transmission in the Medial Prefrontal Cortex of the Rat

López-Gil

Babot

Amargós-Bosch

et al. 2007

166

162

“…That antagonism, in turn, may cause increased glutamate-dependent excitation in downstream cortical regions like the ACC (Farber, 2003;Newcomer et al, 1999;Krystal et al, 1994Krystal et al, , 2003Konradi and Heckers, 2003). In support of this idea, preclinical studies have revealed that NMDAR antagonism results in (1) increased frontal extracellular glutamate (Moghaddam et al, 1997;Lorrain et al, 2003;Takahata and Moghaddam, 2003) and acetylcholine levels (Giovannini et al, 1994), and (2) increased spontaneous firing rate of neurons in the frontal cortex (Moghaddam and Jackson, 2003;Homayoun et al, 2004). The resulting excessive and disorganized activity of the frontal and cingulate regions could, in turn, diminish the brain's capacity to 'make sense' of the environment.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Noncompetitive NMDA Receptor Blockade on Anterior Cingulate Cerebral Blood Flow in Volunteers with Schizophrenia

Holcomb

Lahti

Medoff

et al. 2005

Schizophrenia may be related to dysfunctional glutamatergic activity, specifically hypofunction of the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR). In addition, it has been proposed that NMDAR hypofunction may paradoxically cause an increase in glutamate release and hypermetabolism in corticolimbic regions. If a state of partial, chronic NMDAR blockade underlies schizophrenia, then schizophrenic volunteers (SV) may have greater glutamate release and associated elevations in regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) than normal volunteers (NV), following drug-induced NMDAR antagonism. Therefore, we have given acute ketamine, a noncompetitive NMDAR antagonist, to NV (n ¼ 13) and medicated volunteers with schizophrenia (n ¼ 10) in conjunction with serial positron emission tomography blood flow studies. Drug administration caused marked rCBF elevations in frontal and cingulate regions in both groups. Contrasts between NV and SV ketamine groups showed that SV had greater relative blood flow increases in the anterior cingulate than NV. Maximum blood flow, and the area under the curve for blood flow in the anterior cingulate cortex, significantly correlated with changes in psychosis ratings in SV and NV (maximum rCBF only). These changes are consistent with a relatively hypoactive thalamic NMDAR and increased cortical glutamate neurotransmission at non-NMDARs in schizophrenia. We hypothesize that ketamine antagonizes an NMDAR-dependent inhibitory system that is partially compromised in subjects with schizophrenia. The ketamine-induced reduction of inhibition leads to a marked increase in glutamate release and hypermetabolism (elevated rCBF) in frontal and cingulate cortical regions. The loss of inhibition and increased glutamate release may cause the distorted thoughts and diminished cognitive abilities elicited by NMDAR blockade.

“…Noncompetitive NMDA receptor antagonists increase glutamate in the synaptic cleft thereby generating behaviors dependent upon AMPA receptor stimulation (Moghaddam et al, 1997;Takahata and Moghaddam, 2003). Conversely, cystineglutamate exchange releases glutamate into the extrasynaptic compartment thereby stimulating proximal receptors such as group II mGluRs (Baker et al, 2002(Baker et al, , 2003Moran et al, 2005).…”

Section: N-acetylcysteine Reversal Of Psychotomimetic Effects Of Pcpmentioning

confidence: 99%

Contribution of Cystine–Glutamate Antiporters to the Psychotomimetic Effects of Phencyclidine

Baker

Madayag

Kristiansen

et al. 2007

Altered glutamate signaling contributes to a myriad of neural disorders, including schizophrenia. While synaptic levels are intensely studied, nonvesicular release mechanisms, including cystine-glutamate exchange, maintain high steady-state glutamate levels in the extrasynaptic space. The existence of extrasynaptic receptors, including metabotropic group II glutamate receptors (mGluR), pose nonvesicular release mechanisms as unrecognized targets capable of contributing to pathological glutamate signaling. We tested the hypothesis that activation of cystine-glutamate antiporters using the cysteine prodrug N-acetylcysteine would blunt psychotomimetic effects in the rodent phencyclidine (PCP) model of schizophrenia. First, we demonstrate that PCP elevates extracellular glutamate in the prefrontal cortex, an effect that is blocked by N-acetylcysteine pretreatment. To determine the relevance of the above finding, we assessed social interaction and found that N-acetylcysteine reverses social withdrawal produced by repeated PCP. In a separate paradigm, acute PCP resulted in working memory deficits assessed using a discrete trial t-maze task, and this effect was also reversed by Nacetylcysteine pretreatment. The capacity of N-acetylcysteine to restore working memory was blocked by infusion of the cystineglutamate antiporter inhibitor (S)-4-carboxyphenylglycine into the prefrontal cortex or systemic administration of the group II mGluR antagonist LY341495 indicating that the effects of N-acetylcysteine requires cystine-glutamate exchange and group II mGluR activation. Finally, protein levels from postmortem tissue obtained from schizophrenic patients revealed significant changes in the level of xCT, the active subunit for cystine-glutamate exchange, in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. These data advance cystine-glutamate antiporters as novel targets capable of reversing the psychotomimetic effects of PCP.