Zinc modulates GABAergic neurotransmission in rat globus pallidus

The globus pallidus plays a critical role in the regulation of movement, and abnormal activity of its neurons is associated with some basal ganglia motor diseases. A relatively high level of zinc has been reported in the globus pallidus, which is increased significantly after 6-OHDA treatments. To elucidate the action of zinc on GABAergic neurotransmission in the globus pallidus, whole-cell patch-clamp recordings were made from rat globus pallidus neurons. Superfusion of zinc significantly reduced both spontaneous and miniature inhibitory postsynaptic currents. The inhibition was selective to the amplitude with no change in the frequency, decay time and rise time. Furthermore, the reduction of spontaneous inhibitory postsynaptic currents (34.1 ± 4.0%) was stronger than that of miniature inhibitory postsynaptic currents (19.7 ± 3.2%). These results suggest that spontaneous inhibitory postsynaptic currents generated mainly by axonal collaterals and miniature inhibitory postsynaptic currents generated mainly by striatopallidal inputs may be mediated by different GABA_A receptor combinations.