Long-lasting reduction of dentate paired-pulse depression following LTP-inducing tetanic stimulations of perforant path.

Effects of high-frequency stimulations of the perforant path on the dentate paired-pulse depression were examined in urethane-anesthetized rats. The tetanic stimulations produced a long-term potentiation (LTP) of the excitatory synaptic transmission at the perforant path-dentate granule cell synapses in almost all animals examined. The strength of the early paired-pulse depression at an inter-pulse interval (IPI) of 20 ms decreased significantly for at least 60 min after the tetanic stimulations, whereas the late paired-pulse depression at an IPI of 2 s remained almost unchanged. The reduction of the early paired-pulse depression was stepwise augmented by each of successive tetanic stimulations given at an interval of 10 min. A preceding antidromic stimulation of the mossy fibers depressed the population spike amplitude of perforant path response at an interval of 5-9 ms. The strength of the antidromic depression of population spike also decreased following the perforant path tetanic stimulations. These results suggest that tetanic stimulations of the perforant path produce a long-lasting reduction of the GABAergic recurrent inhibition in the dentate area associated with LTP. The possible mechanisms of the decrease in GABAergic inhibition produced by tetanic stimulations and its possible effects on the development of LTP with succeeding tetanic stimulations were discussed.