The long-term suppressive effect of prior activation of synaptic inputs by low-frequency stimulation on induction of long-term potentiation in CA1 neurons of guinea pig hippocampal slices.

We have investigated the effects of prior activation of afferent inputs by a train of low-frequency stimulation (LFS) on the induction of long-term potentiation (LTP) induced by high-frequency stimulation (tetanus, 100 Hz, 100 pulses) in CA1 neurons of guinea pig hippocampal slices. The parameters of the LFS were altered systematically: the frequency (1 or 5 Hz); the number of pulses (80, 200 or 1000); and the time lag from the LFS to the tetanus (20, 60 or 100 min). Conditioning effects of the LFS on the induction of LTP were evaluated in terms of the slope of the field excitatory postsynaptic potential (S-EPSP) and the amplitude of the population spike (A-PS). LTP could reliably be induced by 100 Hz tetanic stimulation delivered to a naive slice. In contrast, the attempt to induce LTP 60 min after LFS of 200 or 1000 pulses at 1 Hz resulted only in short-term potentiation while the LFS itself produced no significant change in the responses. The suppressive effect on LTP was significantly reduced for 1 Hz LFS with a smaller number of pulses (80 pulses), or a shorter (20 min) or longer (100 min) time lag from the LFS to the tetanus, or with LFS at a higher frequency (5 Hz). When the LFS of 1000 pulses at 1 Hz was delivered in the presence of the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist AP5 (D,L-4-amino-5-phosphonovalerate, 50 microM), which was washed out after the end of the LFS, the tetanus given 60 min after application of the LFS produced stable LTP, indicating the involvement of NMDA receptor/channels in the mechanisms of this particular form of synaptic plasticity-long-term suppression of LTP.