Effect of antioxidants and NMDA antagonists on the density of NMDA binding sites in rat hippocampal slices exposed to hypoxia/reoxygenation

Major interest is currently focused on the development and evaluation of effective strategies for the pharmacological therapy of human stroke and cerebral ischemia, as well as some neurodegenerative disorders in which increased production of free oxygen radicals and the neurotoxic effect of excitatory amino acids may take place. Selected N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) antagonists and antioxidants in the model of experimental oxidative stress induced by hypoxia and reoxygenation in rat hippocampal slices were tested. The putative antiglutamatergic effect of the antioxidant stobadine and its neuroprotective effect during oxidative stress was studied. NMDA antaonists 2-amino-5-phosphonovaleric acid (APV) and Mg2+, as well as the antioxidants stobadine and trolox, prevented the decrease of NMDA binding site number induced by hypoxia/reoxygenation in rat hippocampal slices. Moreover, stobadine, APV and Mg2+ prevented the decrease of NMDA binding site number due to glutamic acid incubation. Stobadine does not inhibit [3H]-glutamate binding and therefore does not seem to interact directly with glutamate binding sites. Thus, its neuroprotective effect in rat hippocampus exposed to hypoxia/reoxygenation does not seem to be based on a direct antiglutamatergic effect. The protective action of stobadine against the decrease of NMDA binding site number elicited by hypoxia/reoxygenation in rat hippocampus could rather be due to its antioxidant and antiradical effect.