Serotonin suppresses N-methyl-d-aspartate responses in acutely isolated spinal dorsal horn neurons of the rat

In acutely isolated spinal dorsal horn neurons of the rat, effects of serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) on inward current induced by excitatory amino acids were studied under whole-cell voltage-clamp condition. 5-HT suppressed the response to N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA), but not the response to kainate or quisqualate. This inhibitory effect of 5-HT on NMDA response was present at 5-HT concentrations as low as 10^-15 M. Although the 5-HT effect exhibited similar pharmacology to the 5-HT_1A-type receptors, it was not mimicked by increasing intracellular concentration of adenosine 3′,5′-cyclic monophosphate that is the common second messenger for 5-HT_1A receptors in the mammalian central nervous system. Glycine strongly antagonized this inhibitory effect of 5-HT, and 5-HT reduced opening of NMDA-gated single channels recorded from the outside-out membrane patch. These lines of evidence are consistent with a possibility that 5-HT might directly modulate the NMDA receptor-ion channel complex, either by interacting with the regulatory site(s) or by acting on a distinct site.