Abstract
Electrophysiological studies were performed on the effects of sodium nitrite (0.01–1 mM) on identified command neurons in the brain of the common snail. These studies showed that short periods of exposure to nitrite (from a few minutes up to 30 min) had little effect, producing a low level of depolarization and increases in neuron spike activity in only a few cases. Incubation of isolated brains with nitrite (1 mM) for periods ranging from 2 h to several days reduced excitation thresholds, significantly increased spike activity, increases responses to stimulation, and increases the levels of synaptic activity of the neurons studied. These effects increased with time and were stable, but were reversible on washing and were accompanied by depolarization and increased input resistance. The action of nitrite was imitated by known NO donors, and blockers of NO synthesis had the opposite effect. The possible mediation of the effects of nitrite by NO synthesis and the development of hypoxia is discussed.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
T. L. D'yakonova, “Nitric oxide (NO) increases the sensitivity and decreases the desensitization of neurons to the excitatory actions of glutamate,”Dokl. Ros. Akad. Nauk.,352, No. 4, 552–556 (1997).
T. L. D'yakonova, “The properties of NADPH-positive neurons in the common snail brain,”Zh. Vyssh. Nerv. Deyat.,47, No. 3, 543–552 (1997).
T. L. D'yakonova and V. P. Reutov, “Nitrites block Ca-dependent acclimation of neurons at the level of the electrically excitable membrane: a possible role for nitric oxide,”Vopr. Med. Khim.,40, No. 6, 20–25 (1994).
Kh. S. Koshtoyants,The Bases of Comparative Physiology [in Russian], Nauka, Moscow (1940).
S. A. Kuznetsov, “The effects of circulatory hypoxia on the electrical responses of neurons,” in:Handbook of Neurophysiology [in Russian], Karta Moldovenyanska, Kishinev (1963), pp. 79–80.
O. A. Maksimova and P. M. Balaban,Neuronal Mechanisms of the Plasticity of Behavior [in Russian], Nauka, Moscow (1983).
Nitrates, Nitrites, and N-Nitroso-Compounds [in Russian], Meditsina, Moscow (1981).
V. P. Reutov, “The nitric oxide cycle in mammals,”Usp. Biol. Khim.,35, 189–228 (1995).
V. P. Reutov and T. L. D'yakonova, “Snail neurons as a model for studies of compensatory-adaptive reactions in the mammal brain. 1. Is there is nitric oxide cycle in neurons in the brain of the common snailHelix lucorum”, in:Proceedings of the First Russian Congress on Pathophysiology [in Russian], Moscow (1996), p. 186.
V. P. Reutov, E. G. Sorokina, V. E. Okhotin and N. S. Kositsin,Cyclic Conversion of Nitric Oxide in Mammals [in Russian], Nauka, Moscow (1997).
N. Y. Chalazonitis, “Effect of changes in PCO2 and PO2 on rhythmic potentials from giant neurons,”Ann. N.Y. Acad Sci.,109, No. 2, 451–479 (1963).
Chon Chung-Long, J. S. K. Sham, Y. Ishizama, and M. Shirahata, “Hypoxia depolarizes cultured cat glomus cells but does not increase intracellular calcium”,Neurosci. Soc. Abstr.,21, No. 3, 1883 (1995).
J. Garthwaite, “Glutamate, nitric oxide and cell-cell signalling in the nervous system,”Trends Neurosci.,14, No. 2, 60–67 (1991).
Y. Izumi, A. M. Benz, D. B. Clifford and Ch. F. Zorumski, “Nitric oxide inhibitors attenuate ischemic degeneration in the CA1 region of the rat hippocampal slices,”Neurosci. Lett.,210, No. 3, 157–160 (1996).
C. Jadecola, F. Zhang, R. Casey, and M. E. Ross, “Knockout mice lacking the inducible nitric oxide synthase gene are resistant to cerebral ischemia,”Neurosci. Abstr.,22, No. 3, 1693 (1996).
S. Z. Lei, Zh-H. Pan, S. K. Aggarwal, et al., “Effect of nitric oxide production on the redox modulatory site of the NMDA receptor-channel complex,”Neuron,8, No. 6, 1087–1099 (1992).
J. M. Nocek, D. M. Kurtz, R. A. Pickering, and M. P. Doyle, “Oxidation of deoxyhemerythrin to semi-methemerythrin by nitrite,”J. Biol. Chem.,259, No. 20, 12334–12338 (1984).
I. B. Schulz, R. T. Matthews, B. G. Jenkins, R. J. Ferrante, D. Siwek, D. R. Henshaw, P. B. Cippolloni, P. Meccocci, N. W. Kowall, B. R. Rosen, and M. F. Beal, “Blockade of neuronal nitric oxide synthase protects against excitotoxicity in vivo,”Neurosci.,15, No. 12, 8419–8429 (1995).
J.-P. Tahon, D. van Hoof, Ch. Vinckier, R. Witters, M. De Ley, and R. Lontie, “The reaction of nitrite with the haemocyanin ofAstacus leptodactylus,”Biochem. J.,249, No. 3, 891–896 (1988).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Translated from Rossiiskii Fiziologicheskii Zhurnal imeni I. M. Sechenova, Vol. 84, No. 11, pp. 1264–1272, November, 1999.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
D'yakonova, T.L., Reutov, V.P. The effects of nitrite on the excitability of brain neurons in the common snail. Neurosci Behav Physiol 30, 179–186 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02463156
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02463156