Modulation of anoxic injury in CNS white matter by adenosine and interaction between adenosine and GABA.

1. We examined the role of adenosine in the development of anoxic injury in a CNS white matter tract, the rat optic nerve. Application of adenosine protected the rat optic nerve from anoxic injury; 2.5 microM adenosine increased compound action potential (CAP) recovery after a standard 60-min anoxic period from 28.6 +/- 2.5%, mean +/- SE, to 51.0 +/- 3.1% (P < 0001). The protective effect of adenosine was abolished by the adenosine receptor antagonist theophylline (100 microM). 2. The protective effect of adenosine evolved slowly after adenosine application; maximum protection required 60 min of adenosine exposure before the onset of anoxia. The concentration dependence of the protective effect was parabolic, with maximum protection at 2.5 microM. Neither high nor very low adenosine concentrations protected against anoxia. These characteristics are similar to those previously found for the inhibitory neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in the same preparation. 3. Inhibition of adenosine receptors (100 microM theophylline) reduced the level of recovery from that found under control conditions (24.3 +/- 4.8% compared with 36.2 +/- 2.5%, P < 0.05). The adenosine uptake inhibitor propentofylline, which potentiates release of endogenous adenosine during brain anoxia, significantly increased CAP recovery after anoxia. This effect was abolished by theophylline. It appeared therefore that release of endogenous adenosine limited injury in the optic nerve during anoxia. 4. The protective effect of adenosine was removed by pretreatment with the protein kinase C (PKC) inhibitor staurosporine (10 nM), indicating that activation of PKC was required for protection after exposure to adenosine.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)