Altered sensitivity to arginine vasopressin (AVP) in area CA1 of the hippocampal slice following pretreatment of rats with AVP.

Extracellular recordings from cells in the CA1b region of the in vitro hippocampal slice preparation demonstrate that bath-applied AVP (10(-6)-10(-12) M) frequently results in a decrease in the orthodromically evoked population spike amplitude. This suggests that AVP inhibits CA1 pyramidal cell firing in response to an orthodromic volley. This effect appears to be receptor-mediated, since a potent antagonist of the AVP V1 (vasopressor) receptor and a mixed oxytocin/vasopressin antagonist prevented the decrease in population spike amplitude observed in response to bath application of AVP. Hippocampal slices prepared from rats injected two days earlier with 1.0 micrograms AVP (intracerebroventricular) display increased sensitivity to the depressant effects of AVP at lower doses compared to controls. These results suggest that pretreatment of rats with AVP may alter the sensitivity of hippocampal cells to the depressant effects of this neuropeptide.