Inhibitory effect of jujuboside A on penicillin sodium induced hyperactivity in rat hippocampal CA1 area in vitro

AIM: To study the effect of jujuboside A (JuA), one constituent of Chinese herbal medicine Ziziphus jujuba Mill Var spinosa (Bunge) Hu, on the penicil lin sodium induced hyperactivity in rat CA1 neurons in vitro. METHODS: Hipp ocampal slices were obtained from the Sprague-Dawley nat brain and populati onal signals were measured from CA1 neurons of hippocampal slices using the extracellular recording technique. RESULTS: Penicillin sodium of 500, 1000 , and 2000 kU/L were found to excite hippocampal CA1 neurons in a concentra tion-dependent manner in vitro. This excitatory effect of penicillin sodium could be inhibited by phenobarbital sodium of 0.02-0.05 g/L and JuA of 0.0 5-0.10 g/L. CONCLUSION: A high dose of JuA can inhibit the hyperactivity of hippocampal CA1 area induced by penicillin sodium. The inhibition of the a mplitude of the first population spike (PS) and the latency of PS are more pronounced than the slope of the field excitatory postsynaptic potential.