NO involvement in the inhibition of ghrelin on voltage-dependent potassium currents in rat hippocampal cells

• Published in: Brain research Vol. 1678; pp. 40 - 46
• Main Authors: Lu, Yong, Dang, Shaokang, Wang, Xu, Zhang, Junli, Zhang, Lin, Su, Qian, Zhang, Huiping, Lin, Tianwei, Zhang, Xiaoxiao, Zhang, Yurong, Sun, Hongli, Zhu, Zhongliang, Li, Hui
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier B.V 01-01-2018
• Subjects: Ghrelin; Hippocampal neurons; Nitric oxide; Voltage-dependent potassium current; Hippocampal neurons; Ghrelin; Nitric oxide; Voltage-dependent potassium current
• ISSN: 0006-8993; 1872-6240
• DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2017.09.031

•Ghrelin can inhibit voltage-dependent K+ currents in rat hippocampal cells.•L-AA enhances the inhibitory effect of ghrelin on K+ current in hippocampal cells.•L-NAME attenuates inhibition of ghrelin on K+ current in hippocampal cells.•Ghrelin plays a biological role through NO pathway.
Ghrelin is a peptide hormone that plays an important role in promoting appetite, regulating distribution and rate of use of energy, cognition, and mood disorders, but the relevant neural mechanisms of these function are still not clear. In this study, we examined the effect of ghrelin on voltage-dependent potassium (K+) currents in hippocampal cells of 1–3 days SD rats by whole-cell patch-clamp technique, and discussed whether NO was involved in this process. The results showed that ghrelin significantly inhibited the voltage-dependent K+ currents in hippocampal cells, and the inhibitory effect was more significant when l-arginine was co-administered. In contrast, N-nitro- l-arginine methyl ester increased the ghrelin inhibited K+ currents and attenuated the inhibitory effect of ghrelin. While d-arginine (D-AA) showed no significant impact on the ghrelin-induced decrease in K+ current. These results show that ghrelin may play a physiological role by inhibiting hippocampal voltage dependent K+ currents, and the NO pathway may be involved in this process.