Short- and long-term changes in extracellular glutamate and acetylcholine concentrations in the rat hippocampus following hypoxia

Hypoxia at birth is a major source of brain damage and it is associated with serious neurological sequelae in survivors. Alterations in the extracellular turnover of glutamate (Glu) and acetylcholine (ACh), two neurotransmitters that are essential for normal hippocampal function and learning and memory processes, may contribute to some of the neurological effects of perinatal hypoxia. We set out to determine the immediate and long-lasting effects of hypoxia on the turnover of these neurotransmitters by using microdialysis to measure the extracellular concentration of Glu and ACh in hippocampus, when hypoxia was induced in rats at postnatal day (PD) 7, and again at PD30. In PD7 rats, hypoxia induced an increase in extracellular Glu concentrations that lasted for up to 2.5 h and a decrease in extracellular ACh concentrations over this period. By contrast, perinatal hypoxia attenuated Glu release in asphyxiated rats, inducing a decrease in basal Glu levels when these animals reached PD30. Unlike Glu, the basal ACh levels in these animals were greater than in controls at PD30, although ACh release was stimulated less strongly than in control animals. These results provide the first evidence of the initial and long term consequences of the hypoxia on Glu and ACh turnover in the brain, demonstrating that hypoxia produces significant alterations in hippocampal neurochemistry and physiology.

► In the hippocampus, extracellular Glu levels increase during hypoxia in PD7 rats.
► In the hippocampus, extracellular Ach levels decrease during hypoxia in PD7 rats.
► Neonatal hypoxia induces long term alterations in extracellular Glu and ACh levels in PD30 rats.