NMDA receptor-independent mechanisms responsible for the rate of rise of cumulative depolarization evoked by trains of dorsal root stimuli on rat spinal motoneurones

The mechanisms responsible for the rate of rise (RR) of cumulative depolarization induced by dorsal root stimulus trains were investigated with intracellular recordings from motoneurones of the rat isolated spinal cord. The NMDA receptor antagonists CPP or APV depressed the cumulative depolarization but not its RR which could still be fast enough to elicit action potential wind-up. RR size was correlated with a slow synaptic potential (detected in CPP or APV solution) with which it shared similar voltage dependence. The NK1 antagonist SR 140333 depressed cumulative depolarization, RR and slow synaptic potentials. It appears that the RR (and the ability to express wind-up) was determined by summation of slow synaptic potentials partly mediated via activation of NK1 receptors.