Sex differences in GABAAergic system in rat substantia nigra pars reticulata

Teresa Ravizza; Linda K. Friedman; Solomon L. Moshé; Jana Velíšková

doi:10.1016/S0736-5748(03)00069-8

Sex differences in GABA_Aergic system in rat substantia nigra pars reticulata

Teresa Ravizza, Linda K. Friedman, Solomon L. Moshé, Jana Velíšková

Neurology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

44 Scopus citations

Abstract

The substantia nigra pars reticulata (SNR) is involved in the control of movement disorders including seizures through its GABAergic neurons. Microinfusions of muscimol (a GABA_A receptor agonist) produce specific effects on seizures depending on sex, infusion site (SNR_anterior or SNR_posterior) and age. To assess whether these effects are due to sex differences in GABAergic indices within the SNR we analyzed the expression of α₁ subunit mRNA of the GABA_A receptor and the levels of GABA immunoreactivity (IR) of male and female rats at postnatal day 15 (PN15) and PN30. In each age, within the same SNR region, expression of α₁ subunit mRNA and intensity of GABA IR per neuron was higher in females compared to males. At PN15, in both sexes, there were no regional differences in expression of α₁ subunit mRNA and intensity of GABA IR. However, at PN30 in both sexes, expression of α₁ subunit mRNA and intensity of GABA IR per cell was higher in SNR_anterior than in SNR_posterior. These results demonstrate that expression of α₁ subunit mRNA for GABA_A receptor and levels of GABA IR in the SNR are sex- and site-specific, which may contribute to sex-, regional- and age-related differences in the expression of movement disorders and seizures.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	245-254
Number of pages	10
Journal	International Journal of Developmental Neuroscience
Volume	21
Issue number	5
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/S0736-5748(03)00069-8
State	Published - Aug 2003

Keywords

Midbrain
Sexual dimorphism
α Subunit
γ-Aminobutyric acid

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Developmental Neuroscience
Developmental Biology

Access to Document

10.1016/S0736-5748(03)00069-8

Cite this

@article{1ec7a21dbd404b75856dbf110bdffeac,

title = "Sex differences in GABAAergic system in rat substantia nigra pars reticulata",

abstract = "The substantia nigra pars reticulata (SNR) is involved in the control of movement disorders including seizures through its GABAergic neurons. Microinfusions of muscimol (a GABAA receptor agonist) produce specific effects on seizures depending on sex, infusion site (SNRanterior or SNRposterior) and age. To assess whether these effects are due to sex differences in GABAergic indices within the SNR we analyzed the expression of α1 subunit mRNA of the GABAA receptor and the levels of GABA immunoreactivity (IR) of male and female rats at postnatal day 15 (PN15) and PN30. In each age, within the same SNR region, expression of α1 subunit mRNA and intensity of GABA IR per neuron was higher in females compared to males. At PN15, in both sexes, there were no regional differences in expression of α1 subunit mRNA and intensity of GABA IR. However, at PN30 in both sexes, expression of α1 subunit mRNA and intensity of GABA IR per cell was higher in SNRanterior than in SNRposterior. These results demonstrate that expression of α1 subunit mRNA for GABAA receptor and levels of GABA IR in the SNR are sex- and site-specific, which may contribute to sex-, regional- and age-related differences in the expression of movement disorders and seizures.",

keywords = "Midbrain, Sexual dimorphism, α Subunit, γ-Aminobutyric acid",

author = "Teresa Ravizza and Friedman, {Linda K.} and Mosh{\'e}, {Solomon L.} and Jana Vel{\'i}{\v s}kov{\'a}",

note = "Funding Information: This work was supported by Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research, Milano (TR), NIH-NS-36238 (LKF), NINDS research grants NS-36238 (JV) and NS-20253 (SLM) and SLM is the recipient of the Martin A. and Emily L. Fisher fellowship in Neurology and Pediatrics. We gratefully acknowledge Mr. Daniel Scott for his contribution in quantitative analysis and Dr. Haftan Eckholdt, Director of the Biometry Core, for his generous help in the statistical analysis of the data.",

year = "2003",

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doi = "10.1016/S0736-5748(03)00069-8",

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T1 - Sex differences in GABAAergic system in rat substantia nigra pars reticulata

AU - Ravizza, Teresa

AU - Friedman, Linda K.

AU - Moshé, Solomon L.

AU - Velíšková, Jana

N1 - Funding Information: This work was supported by Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research, Milano (TR), NIH-NS-36238 (LKF), NINDS research grants NS-36238 (JV) and NS-20253 (SLM) and SLM is the recipient of the Martin A. and Emily L. Fisher fellowship in Neurology and Pediatrics. We gratefully acknowledge Mr. Daniel Scott for his contribution in quantitative analysis and Dr. Haftan Eckholdt, Director of the Biometry Core, for his generous help in the statistical analysis of the data.

PY - 2003/8

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N2 - The substantia nigra pars reticulata (SNR) is involved in the control of movement disorders including seizures through its GABAergic neurons. Microinfusions of muscimol (a GABAA receptor agonist) produce specific effects on seizures depending on sex, infusion site (SNRanterior or SNRposterior) and age. To assess whether these effects are due to sex differences in GABAergic indices within the SNR we analyzed the expression of α1 subunit mRNA of the GABAA receptor and the levels of GABA immunoreactivity (IR) of male and female rats at postnatal day 15 (PN15) and PN30. In each age, within the same SNR region, expression of α1 subunit mRNA and intensity of GABA IR per neuron was higher in females compared to males. At PN15, in both sexes, there were no regional differences in expression of α1 subunit mRNA and intensity of GABA IR. However, at PN30 in both sexes, expression of α1 subunit mRNA and intensity of GABA IR per cell was higher in SNRanterior than in SNRposterior. These results demonstrate that expression of α1 subunit mRNA for GABAA receptor and levels of GABA IR in the SNR are sex- and site-specific, which may contribute to sex-, regional- and age-related differences in the expression of movement disorders and seizures.

AB - The substantia nigra pars reticulata (SNR) is involved in the control of movement disorders including seizures through its GABAergic neurons. Microinfusions of muscimol (a GABAA receptor agonist) produce specific effects on seizures depending on sex, infusion site (SNRanterior or SNRposterior) and age. To assess whether these effects are due to sex differences in GABAergic indices within the SNR we analyzed the expression of α1 subunit mRNA of the GABAA receptor and the levels of GABA immunoreactivity (IR) of male and female rats at postnatal day 15 (PN15) and PN30. In each age, within the same SNR region, expression of α1 subunit mRNA and intensity of GABA IR per neuron was higher in females compared to males. At PN15, in both sexes, there were no regional differences in expression of α1 subunit mRNA and intensity of GABA IR. However, at PN30 in both sexes, expression of α1 subunit mRNA and intensity of GABA IR per cell was higher in SNRanterior than in SNRposterior. These results demonstrate that expression of α1 subunit mRNA for GABAA receptor and levels of GABA IR in the SNR are sex- and site-specific, which may contribute to sex-, regional- and age-related differences in the expression of movement disorders and seizures.

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