Triazolam suppresses the induction of hippocampal long-term potentiation

Abstract

Benzodiazepines are sedative hypnotics that produce marked anterograde amnesia in humans. These pharmacological properties are thought to result from the potentiation of GABA-A receptor function and subsequent attenuation of long-term potentiation (LTP), however many reports have suggested this is not the case for triazolam. Using electrophysiological recordings in a cell line expressing recombinant GABA-A receptors, we confirm that triazolam is an efficacious positive allosteric modulator of GABA-A receptors. Triazolam also slowed the decay of spontaneous inhibitory synaptic currents, reduced the amplitude of fEPSPs elicited during a theta burst and reduced the magnitude of LTP in hippocampal CA1 neurones in vitro. These data show that triazolam modifies LTP induction consistent with an enhancement of GABA-A receptor function via activation of the allosteric benzodiazepine-site.