M. Virgili et al., CHRONIC NEONATAL NMDA BLOCKADE RESULTS IN LONG-TERM CHOLINERGIC INCREASE IN THE RAT SPINAL-CORD, NeuroReport, 5(16), 1994, pp. 2023-2025
RAT pups were treated daily with increasing doses of the competitive N
-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) antagonist CGP 39551 from postnatal day 1 t
o 22. Normal rats, as well as rats kept undernourished to the same ext
ent as CGP 39551-treated animals were raised in parallel. The neonatal
treatment resulted in significant increase of choline acetyltransfera
se (+14%) in the adult spinal cord. High affinity glutamate uptake was
increased to a similar magnitude in treated rats, but the same effect
was also noticed for neonatally undernourished rats. No alteration of
other neurochemical markers was observed. The present results add new
evidence to a developmental role mediated by NMDA receptors and exten
d to the spinal cord the value of models of chronic neonatal block of
this receptor.