Enhanced excitability of hippocampal mossy fibers and CA3 neurons under dietary zinc deficiency

On the basis of the evidence that susceptibility to kainate-induced seizures is enhanced by zinc deficiency and that glutamate concentrations in hippocampal extracellular fluid are excessively increased during seizures, excitability of hippocampal mossy fibers and CA3 neurons was examined using hippocampal slices, which were prepare from mice fed a zinc-deficient diet for 4 weeks. The spatio-temporal dynamics of zinc and calcium was monitored using their indicators, membrane-impermeable ZnAF-2 and membrane-permeable fura-2 AM, respectively. When the molecular layer of dentate gyrus was stimulated with 100 mM KCl for 1 s, the increased percentages of extracellular zinc in the stratum lucidum and CA3 pyramidal cell layer were higher in zinc-deficient mice than in the control mice, implying that glutamate release from the mossy fibers of the dentate granular cells is enhanced by zinc deficiency. Judging from the increased percentages, however, the amount of zinc released was estimated to be less in zinc-deficient mice. On the other hand, the basal calcium concentrations in the stratum lucidum and CA3 pyramidal cell layer detected with fura-2 were higher in zinc-deficient mice than in the control mice, indicating that hippocampal calcium homeostasis is affected by zinc deficiency. Furthermore, the increased percentage of intracellular calcium in the stratum lucidum by stimulation with high K+ was enhanced by the zinc deficiency. The alteration of hippocampal calcium homeostasis seems to enhance excitability of dentate granular cells in zinc deficiency, following by an enhanced excitability of postsynaptic structures in CA3 neurons.