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Pre- and Postnatal Propylthiouracil-Induced Hypothyroidism Impairs Synaptic Transmission and Plasticity in Area CA1 of the Neonatal Rat Hippocampus

National Research Council (L.S.), Neurotoxicology Division (M.E.G.), United States Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 27711; and Department of Psychology, University of North Carolina, North Carolina 27599

Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: M. E. Gilbert, Ph.D., Neurotoxicology Division (MD-B105-05), National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory, United States Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 27711. E-mail: gilbert.mary{at}epamail.epa.gov.

Thyroid hormones are essential for neonatal brain development. It is well established that insufficiency of thyroid hormone during critical periods of development can impair cognitive functions. The mechanisms that underlie learning deficits in hypothyroid animals, however, are not well understood. As impairments in synaptic function are likely to contribute to cognitive deficits, the current study tested whether thyroid hormone insufficiency during development would alter quantitative characteristics of synaptic function in the hippocampus. Developing rats were exposed in utero and postnatally to 0, 3, or 10 ppm propylthiouracil (PTU), a thyroid hormone synthesis inhibitor, administered in the drinking water of dams from gestation d 6 until postnatal day (PN) 30. Excitatory postsynaptic potentials and population spikes were recorded from the stratum radiatum and the pyramidal cell layer, respectively, in area CA1 of hippocampal slices from offspring between PN21 and PN30. Baseline synaptic transmission was evaluated by comparing input-output relationships between groups. Paired-pulse facilitation, paired-pulse depression, long-term potentiation, and long-term depression were recorded to examine short- and long-term synaptic plasticity. PTU reduced thyroid hormones, reduced body weight gain, and delayed eye-opening in a dose-dependent manner. Excitatory synaptic transmission was increased by developmental exposure to PTU. Thyroid hormone insufficiency was also dose-dependently associated with a reduction paired-pulse facilitation and long-term potentiation of the excitatory postsynaptic potential and elimination of paired-pulse depression of the population spike. The results indicate that thyroid hormone insufficiency compromises the functional integrity of synaptic communication in area CA1 of developing rat hippocampus and suggest that these changes may contribute to learning deficits associated with developmental hypothyroidism.

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