Intracellular recordings were made from 128 superficial dorsal horn (laminae I and II) neurons in slice preparations of the lumbosacral spinal cord obtained from young hamsters. Stimulation of the segmental dorsal root evoked postsynaptic potentials in all neurons. The average transmembrane resting potential was -61 +/- 1 mV (mean +/- SE; n = 123). The mean action potential amplitude was 75 +/- 1 mV (n = 105) with a duration at half peak of 1.1 +/- 0.1 ms (n = 102). The mean input resistance of these neurons was 72 +/- 4 M omega (n = 125). These values are comparable to those reported in other studies on neurons of this region using penetrating microelectrodes. 2. Bath application of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA; 50 microM) depolarized 67 of 71 (94%) of the tested neurons. Superfusion with the non-NMDA amino acid agonists DL-alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4- isoxazole propionic acid (AMPA; 20 microM) and kainate (KA; 50 microM) depolarized all tested neurons by > 10 mV. On the other hand, only 13 of 67 (19%) tested neurons were depolarized > 4 mV by superfusion solutions containing 3 mM L-glutamate (Glu). L-Aspartate at 3 mM depolarized three out of seven neurons by > 4 mV and appeared to be equally as effective as Glu. 3. The non-NMDA receptor antagonist 6-cyano-7-nitroquinoxaline-2,3-dione (CNQX; 10 microM) substantially attenuated the AMPA- and KA-induced depolarizations and partially attenuated the NMDA-induced depolarizations. The NMDA antagonist 3 [(+/-)-2-carboxypiperazin-4-yl]-propyl-1-phosphonic acid (CPP; 50 microM) reversibly blocked the NMDA-induced depolarization in all tested neurons. Glu-induced depolarization was unaffected by CNQX but was attenuated by CPP in three of three tested neurons. These observations indicate that some of the Glu-induced depolarization was mediated by NMDA receptors. 4. CNQX reversibly attenuated excitatory postsynaptic potentials (EPSPs) produced by primary afferent activity in A delta- and C-fibers whereas CPP suppressed only the late EPSP components. Therefore in the neurons sampled, synaptic responses evoked from primary afferent fibers appear to be mediated by both non-NMDA and NMDA receptors. 5. The glutamate uptake inhibitors, L-trans-pyrrolidine-2,4-dicarboxylate (L-trans PDC; 50 microM; n = 6) and threo-3-hydroxy-D-aspartate (1 mM; n = 1) did not have a consistent effect upon Glu action background discharge, RN or Vm in Glu-unresponsive neurons.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
