Ethanol antagonizes kainate receptor-mediated inhibition of evoked GABA(A) inhibitory postsynaptic currents in the rat hippocampal CA1 region

Many studies have demonstrated that ethanol reduces gluta-matergic synaptic transmission primarily by inhibiting the N-methyl-D-aspartate subtype of glutamate receptor. In contrast, the other two subtypes of ionotropic glutamate receptor (-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methylisoxazole-4-propionic acid and kai-nate) have generally been shown to be insensitive to intoxicat-ing concentrations of ethanol. However, we have previously identified a population of kainate receptors that mediate slow excitatory postsynaptic currents in the rat hippocampal CA3 pyramidal cell region that is potently inhibited by low concen-trations of ethanol. In this study, we examined the effect of ethanol on kainate receptor-mediated inhibition of evoked GABAA inhibitory postsynaptic currents (IPSCs) in the rat hip-pocampal CA1 pyramidal cell region. Under our recording con