Thyrotropin-releasing hormone reverses the supersensitively depressed monosynaptic transmission by serotonin in 5,7-dihydroxytryptamine-treated neonatal rats in vitro.

The interaction of serotonin and thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) on monosynaptic reflex (MSR) in isolated neonatal spinal cords was examined. Superfusion of serotonin (1-30 microM) in untreated cords, depressed the MSR in a dose-dependent manner. The depression was about 25% at 10 microM of serotonin, in either control or vehicle-treated groups. While for the same concentration of serotonin, the depression was 97 +/- 2.1% of the control in cords from 5,7 dihydroxytryptamine (5,7-DHT)-treated animals. The inhibition of the reflex seen in cords obtained from 5,7-DHT-treated animals could not be reversed by washing with normal physiological solution (> 60 min) or in presence of serotonin antagonists. TRH (0.03-1.0 microM) reversed the depression in a concentration-dependent manner and complete reversal could be seen with 1 microM of TRH. These observations indicate that, serotonin and TRH act dissimilarly on the spinal synaptic transmission though they are known to coexist in the descending bulbospinal tracts.