Smith P F, Darlington C L
Department of Pharmacology, School of Medical Sciences, University of Otago Medical School, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Trends Pharmacol Sci. 1996 Nov;17(11):421-7. doi: 10.1016/s0165-6147(96)10050-x.
Recent advances in the pharmacology of the vestibulo-ocular reflex have had a major impact on our understanding of the vestibular system, the sensory system primarily concerned with the stabilization of gaze and posture during head movement. Increasing evidence suggests that afferent transmission from the receptor hair cells in the vestibular labyrinth to the vestibular nerve probably involves glutamate acting on a number of excitatory amino acid receptor subtypes. Furthermore, hair-cell sensitivity appears to be regulated by cholinergic, GABA-mediated and, possibly, peptide-mediated efferent feedback from the CNS. Likewise, it seems clear that an excitatory amino acid, probably glutamate, is the major transmitter used by the vestibular nerve in its synapses with neurones of the brainstem vestibular nucleus. In this review, Paul Smith and Cynthia Darlington discuss the large number of receptor subtypes that have been identified in the vestibular nucleus, including receptors for several peptides that may have a role in co-transmission.
前庭眼反射药理学的最新进展对我们理解前庭系统产生了重大影响，前庭系统是主要负责在头部运动期间稳定注视和姿势的感觉系统。越来越多的证据表明，从前庭迷路中的感受器毛细胞到前庭神经的传入传递可能涉及谷氨酸作用于多种兴奋性氨基酸受体亚型。此外，毛细胞的敏感性似乎受中枢神经系统胆碱能、GABA介导以及可能的肽介导的传出反馈调节。同样，很明显一种兴奋性氨基酸（可能是谷氨酸）是前庭神经在与脑干前庭核神经元形成突触时使用的主要神经递质。在这篇综述中，保罗·史密斯和辛西娅·达林顿讨论了在前庭核中已鉴定出的大量受体亚型，包括几种可能在共同传递中起作用的肽的受体。
