Rapid swim-stress reduces GABAA receptor α1 subunit mRNAs in the mouse hippocampus

Pascale Montipied, Avraham Weizman, Ronit Weizman, Karin A. Kook A. Leslie Morrow, and Steven M. Paul. Molecular Brain Research, 18 (1993)267-272. They investigated how swim training would affect GABAA receptor subunits mRNA expression in mice. They used a northern blot in order to quantify GABA receptor subunit mRNA expression in the hippocampus. They found that swim stress (or maybe training!!!) for 14 days significantly reduced GABA A receptor α1 subunit expression in the hippocampus. They also looked at GAD expression and β-actin and that was unchanged by 7 and 14 days of swim stress. What I thought was interesting was that the mentioned that adrenectomy that don’t see these changes in GABA A receptor α1 subunit expression. These data suggest that the adrenal glands may be playing a role in modulation of GABAA receptor α1 subunit expression. This could be due to release of adrenal steroids that are can alter GABA A receptor expression indirectly after a long exposure. Based on the finding from this paper, I think the adrenal nerve activity may be key to elucidating the mechanism that leads to changes in glutamate and gaba neurotransmission in the RVLM.-MD