Phosphinic acid derivatives as baclofen agonists and antagonists in the mammalian spinal cord: an in vivo study.

The actions of a series of derivatives of 3-aminopropyl-phosphinic acid as baclofen agonists and antagonists have been examined on the synaptic excitation of neurones by impulses in primary afferent fibres in the lumbar spinal cords of pentobarbitone-anaesthetised cats and rats. Both the pre- and postsynaptic inhibitory actions of microelectrophoretic (-)-baclofen were reduced by similarly administered CGP 35,348, 36,742, 46,381, 52,432, 54,626 and 55,845, the latter being the most potent antagonist. None of these antagonists either decreased or increased the excitability of spinal neurones, and the inhibitory action of GABA was reduced only by local concentrations of antagonists which also reduced the action of piperidine-4-sulphonic acid, a GABAA agonist. Although the weak inhibitory effect of 3-aminopropylphosphinic acid in both the rat and the cat was not reduced by these baclofen antagonists, the pre- and postsynaptic inhibitory effects of 3-aminopropyl-methyl-phosphinic acid (CGP 35,024), which was more potent than (-)-baclofen, were reduced by the antagonists. Like (-)-baclofen, CGP 35,024 was relatively ineffective in reducing transmitter release in the cord from the terminals of excitatory spinal interneurones, the terminals of excitatory tracts in the dorsolateral funiculus and the cholinergic terminals of motor axon collaterals. In both rat and cat cords, receptors for (-)-baclofen could not be demonstrated to be activated by microelectrophoretic GABA, possibly because of the predominantly dendritic location of GABAB receptors. Spinal pre- and postsynaptic baclofen receptors appeared to be pharmacologically similar but differed from those in the higher central nervous system of the rat, where 3-aminopropylphosphinic acid has been reported to be an effective baclofen agonist. The compounds tested, particularly CGP 55,845 and 46,381, will be of use in further investigations of the physiological relevance of baclofen receptors at central synapses where GABA may be the transmitter.