Amino acid neurotransmitter alterations in three sublines of Rb mice differing by their susceptibility to audiogenic seizures.

The levels of inhibitory amino acids (Tau, Gly), or excitatory amino acids (Glu, Asp) and Gln, precursor of GABA, have been determined, under resting conditions, in 17 brain areas of 3 sublines of inbred Rb mice displaying different responses to an acoustic stimulus. Rb1 mice were clonictonic seizure-prone, Rb2 mice were clonic seizure-prone and Rb3 mice were seizure resistant. Profile of distribution in the brain of each one of these amino acids differed. Maximum to minimum level ratio was higher for Tau (3.8) than for Glu or Asp or Gln (2). The level of Gly was similar in 13 out of the 17 areas examined. Multiple inter-subline differences were recorded for each amino acid. These differences have been analyzed considering the seizure susceptibility or severity of the three Rb sublines. Common lower levels (approximately -20%: Rb1/Rb3, Rb2/Rb3) of Gln in Temporal Cortex may be implicated in seizure susceptibility. Seizure severity (Rb1/Rb2) seems to correlate, in some areas, with additional lower amounts of GABA already reported and, to a lower extent, of Asp (-19% in striatum, inferior colliculus and cerebellum), of Tau and Gly; a tendency for a rise in Gln content was observed in certain others (10-20% in olfactory bulb, thalamus, hypothalamus, substantia nigra, and frontal, temporal and occipital cortex). The data and correlations recorded provide guidelines for further investigations for synaptosomal and metabolic alterations in the three sublines of the same strain of Rb mice.