Extracellular accumulation of glutamate in the hippocampus induced by ischemia is not calcium dependent--in vitro and in vivo evidence.

Calcium dependency of ischemia-induced increase in extracellular glutamate in the hippocampus was studied in vitro and in vivo. Perfusion of a low pO2 medium without glucose (in vitro ischemia) induced an increase in extracellular glutamate in rat hippocampal slices. This increase did not depend on Ca2+, which is in contrast with the observation that about 40% of membrane depolarization (50 mM KCl)-evoked release was Ca2+-dependent. In vivo cerebral ischemia of 5 min duration in gerbils also caused Ca2+-independent increase in extracellular glutamate in the hippocampus. The data suggest that the increase in extracellular glutamate induced by ischemia is not due to the enhanced release of neurotransmitter glutamate.