Effects of Salicylic Acid and Its Salts on Electrical Activity of Neurons of Helix albescens

We studied changes in the parameters of electrical activity of identified neurons of the parietal ganglion, PPa1 and PPa2, and of non-identified cells of the visceral ganglion (VG) of the snail Helix albescens; these changes were caused by application of salicylic acid and its salts (cobalt and zinc salicylates, CS and ZS, respectively). The above substances began to modify significantly the functional state of the neurons under study when applied in concentrations of 10−4 to 10−3 M. Salicylic acid suppressed the activity of all studied neurons. Application of salicylic acid in the concentration of 10−3 M led to a decrease in the impulsation frequency of VG neurons by factors of 1.2 to 1.5 and to an increase in the duration of AP (on average, by 2.8 ± ± 0.6 msec). In PPa1 and PPa2 cells, we observed increases in both the AP duration (by 2.4 ± 0.8 and 3.6 ± ± 1.3 msec, respectively) and that of postactivation hyperpolarization (by 29.8 ± 11 0 and 39.6 ± 9.4 msec). In the concentration of 10−2 M, salicylic acid completely but relatively reversibly suppressed the impulse activity of all the neurons under study, causing deep hyperpolarization of their membranes. Salts of this acid, CS and ZS, demonstrated significant modulatory effects on the activity of the studied neurons; these substances initiated or enhanced the grouping of APs in bursts and also increased the AP duration. Application of 10−3 M CS resulted in an increase in the AP duration by, on average, 2.75 ± 0.4 msec (only in the PPa2 neuron), whereas 10−3 M ZS exerted analogous effects on both above neurons (in PPa1, by 2.7 ± 0.4, while in PPa2, by 3.1 ± 0.6 msec). In the case where the tested salicylates were applied in the concentration of 10−2 M, the AP duration increased in all the cells under study (on average, by 11.8 ± 2.46 msec in VG neurons, and by 7.0 ± ± 0.4 and 7.8 ± 1.2 msec in PPa1 and PPa2 cells, respectively). With application of CS, analogous values determined by application of ZS were 14.6 ± 4.6, 6.8 ± 0.54, and 9.0 ± 0.89 msec. We assume that the modulatory effects of salicylates are mediated by their influence on the intracellular system of cyclic nucleotides.