Evidence of a neurotransmitter role for aspartate and gamma-aminobutyric acid in the rat olfactory cortex.

1. Using a cortical cup technique, the release of seven endogenous amino acids from the isolated rat olfactory cortex slice has been monitored.2. Electrical stimulation of the lateral olfactory tract at a frequency of 4 min(-1) was accompanied by a significant increase in the release of aspartate, GABA and taurine; the release of GABA and aspartate but not that of taurine was Ca(2+)-dependent.3. Chronic unilateral bulbectomy was accompanied by a specific, significant fall in the aspartate content of the olfactory cortex which reached a maximum 5 days after surgery and persisted for at least a further 5 days. Electrical stimulation of the lateral olfactory tract of such preparations did not release any of the amino acids under investigation.4. When slices from the unoperated side were exposed to solutions containing 25 mM-K+ or stimulated with electrodes placed directly on the cortex enclosed by the cup there was a Ca(2+)-dependent release of aspartate and GABA accompanied by a Ca(2+)-independent release of taurine. Following chronic bulbectomy, these procedures failed to evoke significant release of aspartate whereas the characteristics of GABA and taurine release were unaltered.5. It is concluded that aspartate may be the excitatory transmitter of some of the terminals of the lateral olfactory tract fibres and that GABA may be a transmitter at some inhibitory synapses of the rat olfactory cortex.