Cell-specific alterations in synaptic properties of hippocampal CA1 interneurons after kainate treatment. J. Neurophysiol. 80: 2836-2847, 1998. Hippocampal sclerosis and hyperexcitability are neuropathological features of human temporal lobe epilepsy that are reproduced in the kainic acid (KA) model of epilepsy in rats. To assess directly the role of inhibitory interneurons in the KA model, the membrane and synaptic properties of interneurons located in 1) stratum oriens near the alveus (O/A) and 2) at the border of stratum radiatum and stratum lacunosum-moleculare (LM), as well as those of pyramidal cells, were examined with whole cell recordings in slices of control and KA-lesioned rats. In current-clamp recordings, intrinsic cell properties such as action potential amplitude and duration, amplitude of fast and medium duration afterhyperpolarizations, membrane time constant, and input resistance were generally unchanged in all cell types after KA treatment. In voltage-clamp recordings, the amplitude and conductance of pharmacologically isolated excitatory postsynaptic currents (EPSCs) were significantly reduced in LM interneurons of KA-treated animals but were not significantly changed in O/A and pyramidal cells. The rise time of EPSCs was not significantly changed in any cell type after KA treatment. In contrast, the decay time constant of EPSCs was significantly faster in O/A interneurons of KA-treated rats but was unchanged in LM and pyramidal cells. The amplitude and conductance of pharmacologically isolated gamma-aminobutyric acid-A (GABAA) inhibitory postsynaptic currents (IPSCs) were not significantly changed in any cell type of KA-treated rats. The rise time and decay time constant of GABAA IPSCs were significantly faster in pyramidal cells of KA-treated rats but were not significantly changed in O/A and LM interneurons. These results suggest that complex alterations in synaptic currents occur in specific subpopulations of inhibitory interneurons in the CA1 region after KA lesions. A reduction of evoked excitatory drive onto inhibitory cells located at the border of stratum radiatum and stratum lacunosum-moleculare may contribute to disinhibition and polysynaptic epileptiform activity in the CA1 region. Compensatory changes, involving excitatory synaptic transmission on other interneuron subtypes and inhibitory synaptic transmission on pyramidal cells, may also take place and contribute to the residual, functional monosynaptic inhibition observed in principal cells after KA treatment.