Antagonism of cortical excitation of striatal neurons by glutamic acid diethyl ester: evidence for glutamic acid as an excitatory transmitter in the rat striatum.

Rat striatal cells that were excited by cortical stimulation were found to respond to cortical stimulation with an average latency of 12 msec. Each response consisted of a variable number of spikes with, on the average, a less than 1:1 relationship between the stimulus and the number of spikes generated. Iontophoretic application of glutamic acid diethyl ester (GDEE), a substance reported to be a glutamate antagonist, at currents of +50 to +125 nA in the vicinity of neurons exicted by cortical stimulation, almost totally suppressed the excitation in 90% of the cells, and this suppression was fully reversible. All cells were excited by glutamate. GDEE also suppressed neuronal excitation produced by iontophoretic aspartate, glutamate and DL-homocysteic acid. It is concluded from this study that an excitatory amino acid, either aspartic or glutamic, may function as the transmitter in the corticostriate projection.