Determination of striatal extracellular gamma-aminobutyric acid in non-hibernating and hibernating arctic ground squirrels using quantitative microdialysis.

This study determined extracellular concentrations of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in striatum of non-hibernating and hibernating arctic ground squirrels to test the hypothesis that an increase in GABA was associated with profound CNS depression during hibernation. Quantitative microdialysis procedures were employed to circumvent the effects of low temperature on the relative recovery of the analyte across the dialysis membrane and yielded for the first time quantitative in vivo estimates of GABA in any brain region or any species. Laboratory housed, wild caught Arctic ground squirrels (Spermophilus parryii) were implanted intraperitoneally with radio transmitters that enabled the telemetric monitoring of activity and core body temperature (T(b)) and bilaterally implanted with cranial guide tubes that enabled the implantation of microdialysis probes into the striatum. Striatal GABA was determined in unrestrained, non-hibernating ground squirrels (T(b) range 34.7-38.9 degrees C) and hibernating ground squirrels (T(b) range 2.9-3.9 degrees C) using extrapolation to zero flow and very slow flow microdialysis techniques. The results show that GABA in non-hibernating squirrels was 73 nM and this level was decreased by approximately 50% during hibernation thereby suggesting that an increase in GABA does not play a major role in CNS depression during hibernation. The reduction of GABA parallels a decrease in plasma and CSF [glucose] and may be related to a decrease in GABA synthesis or reduced voltage dependent release. This paper demonstrates that measurement of extracellular concentrations of neurotransmitters in animals with vastly different body temperatures is possible using microdialysis techniques of extrapolation to zero flow or very slow flow rates that enable 100% recovery. Such quantitative techniques may prove valuable in the study of the neurochemistry of the cerebral mechanisms of hibernation and tolerance to cerebral ischemia exhibited by hibernating animals.