Effects of isoflurane and urethane anesthetics on glutamate neurotransmission in rat brain using in vivo amperometry

BACKGROUND: Aspects of glutamate neurotransmission implicated in normal and pathological conditions are predominantly evaluated using in vivo recording paradigms in rats anesthetized with isoflurane or urethane.

Urethane and isoflurane anesthesia influence glutamate neurotransmission through different mechanisms; however, real-time outcome measures of potassium chloride (KCl)-evoked glutamate overflow and glutamate clearance kinetics have not been compared within and between regions of the brain.

In order to maintain rigor and reproducibility within the literature between the two most common methods of anesthetized in vivo recording of glutamate, we compared glutamate signaling as a function of anesthesia and brain region in the rat strain most used in neuroscience.

METHODS: In the following experiments, in vivo amperometric recordings of KCl-evoked glutamate overflow and glutamate clearance kinetics (uptake rate and T(80)) in the cortex, hippocampus, and thalamus were performed using glutamate-selective microelectrode arrays (MEAs) in young adult male, Sprague-Dawley rats anesthetized with either isoflurane or urethane.

RESULTS: Potassium chloride (KCl)-evoked glutamate overflow was similar under urethane and isoflurane anesthesia in all brain regions studied.

Analysis of glutamate clearance determined that the uptake rate was significantly faster (53.2%, p < 0.05) within the thalamus under urethane compared to isoflurane, but no differences were measured in the cortex or hippocampus.

Under urethane, glutamate clearance parameters were region-dependent, with significantly faster glutamate clearance in the thalamus compared to the cortex but not the hippocampus (p < 0.05).

No region-dependent differences were measured for glutamate overflow using isoflurane.

CONCLUSIONS: These data support that amperometric recordings of KCl-evoked glutamate under isoflurane and urethane anesthesia result in similar and comparable data.

However, certain parameters of glutamate clearance can vary based on choice of anesthesia and brain region.

In these circumstances, special considerations are needed when comparing previous literature and planning future experiments.