The behavioural effects of chronic elevation of rat brain GABA by ethanolamine O-sulphate

Abstract

This study examined the functional effects of long-term elevated brain GABA concentrations. The increase in GABA was achieved by use of the GABA-aminotransferase (GABA-T) inhibitor, ethanolamine O-sulphate (EOS). Forms of exploratory behaviour pre viously demonstrated to be sensitive to GABAergic receptor stimulation were measured over a 4 week period of EOS treatment. The most pronounced behavioural effect was an increased duration of investigating behaviour following 2-21 days of EOS treatment. This effect was accompanied by an accumulation of GABA in the substantia nigra and the corpus striatum. After 28-30 days of EOS treatment the GABA concentration was still significantly elevated, whereas the investigating behaviour was no longer different from controls.