Effects on the expression of GABAA receptor subunits by jujuboside A treatment in rat hippocampal neurons

To determine the effect of jujuboside A (JuA) in modulating the γ-aminobutyric acid (GABAA) receptor subunits gene expression of hippocampal neurons at different terms in vitro. Hippocampal neurons of rat were cultured in vitro, treated with JuA or diazepam (DZP). Then GABAA receptor mRNAs were evaluated by semi-quantitative RT-PCR. JuA at the low dose of 41 μM (about 0.05 g/l) induced significant increase of GABAA receptor α1, α5, β2 subunit mRNAs in both 24 and 72 h treatments. JuA at the high dose of 82 μM (about 0.1 g/l) significantly increased GABAA receptor α1, α5 subunit mRNA levels and decreased β2 subunit mRNA level at 24 h treatment, and decreased GABAA receptor subunit α1, β2 mRNAs expression at 72 h treatment. DZP of 10 μM significantly increased expression of GABAA receptor subunit α1, α5 and decreased expression of β2 at 24 h treatment, and decreased α1, α5, β2 subunits gene expression at 72 h treatment. Differences in alterations in GABAA receptor subunit mRNAs expression following JuA and DZP treatments could help to explain the differences in the pharmacological action of the two drugs.