Department of Pharmacology, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
J Neurochem. 2010 Mar;112(5):1115-30. doi: 10.1111/j.1471-4159.2009.06539.x. Epub 2009 Dec 10.
GABA(A) receptors are sensitive to subtle changes in the environment in both early-life and adulthood. These neurochemical responses to stress in adulthood are sex-dependent. Acute stress induces rapid changes in GABA(A) receptors in experimental animals, with the direction of the changes varying according to the sex of the animals and the stress-paradigm studied. These rapid alterations are of particular interest as they provide an example of fast neurotransmitter system plasticity that may be mediated by stress-induced increases in neurosteroids, perhaps via effects on phosphorylation and/or receptor trafficking. Interestingly, some studies have also provided evidence for long-lasting changes in GABA(A) receptors as a result of exposure to stressors in early-life. The short- and long-term stress sensitivity of the GABAergic system implicates GABA(A) receptors in the non-genetic etiology of psychiatric illnesses such as depression and schizophrenia in which stress may be an important factor.
GABA(A) 受体对早期和成年期环境中的细微变化敏感。这些成年期应激的神经化学反应具有性别依赖性。急性应激会在实验动物中引起 GABA(A) 受体的快速变化，变化的方向取决于动物的性别和所研究的应激范式。这些快速变化特别有趣，因为它们提供了一个快速神经递质系统可塑性的例子，这种可塑性可能是由应激诱导的神经甾体增加介导的，可能通过对磷酸化和/或受体运输的影响。有趣的是，一些研究还提供了证据，表明早期暴露于应激源会导致 GABA(A) 受体的长期变化。GABA 能系统的短期和长期应激敏感性表明 GABA(A) 受体参与了精神疾病（如抑郁症和精神分裂症）的非遗传病因，其中应激可能是一个重要因素。
