Comparison of the effect of the GABA uptake blockers, tiagabine and nipecotic acid, on inhibitory synaptic efficacy in hippocampal CA1 neurones.

The action of the novel gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) uptake blocker, tiagabine, has been studied on isolated GABAergic fast inhibitory postsynaptic potentials (IPSP) and currents (IPSC) in rat hippocampal CA1 pyramidal cells in the slice preparation. Tiagabine (20-50 microM) had little effect on the peak amplitude of the IPSC, but caused a robust increase in the half-width (by 109 +/- 15%). These results contrasted with those obtained using the established uptake blocker, nipecotic acid (100 microM to 1 mM), which reduced the amplitude of the IPSC by 35 +/- 6% and caused only a modest prolongation of the recovery phase. These effects, which were poorly reversible, are probably explained by the fact that nipecotic acid is a substrate for the GABA-uptake carrier and can act as a false transmitter. Tiagabine is not transported by the GABA carrier and results with this substance demonstrate the role of uptake in determining the kinetics of activation of GABAA receptors. Tiagabine is proposed as the blocker of choice for the GABA uptake system.