The purpose of this study was to evaluate potential mechanisms of ischemia-evoked amino acid transmitter release. Changes in extracellular levels of transmitter amino acids and lactic acid dehydrogenase (LDH) in rat cerebral cortex during and following four-vessel occlusion elicited global cerebral ischemia were examined using a cortical cup technique. Ischemia-evoked release of glutamate, aspartate and gamma-amino-butyric acid (GABA) was compared in control vs. drug-treated animals. Tetrodotoxin and antagonists of glutamate receptors (DNQX, MK-801, and AP-3) depressed the initial rate of increase in extracellular glutamate and aspartate without altering the total amount of these amino acids collected in the cortical superfusates. Cobalt, a calcium channel antagonist, failed to alter efflux. Acidic amino acid transport inhibitors (dihydrokainate, L-trans-PDC) depressed the rate of onset of glutamate and aspartate release and dihydrokainate depressed total release by 44%. PD 81723, an allosteric enhancer at the A1 adenosine receptor, depressed glutamate efflux, as did L-NAME, an inhibitor of nitric oxide synthase. Extracellular increases in GABA levels were depressed by tetrodotoxin and L-trans-PDC. The GABA transport inhibitor, nipecotic acid, increased the initial rate of onset of GABA release. Increases in LDH levels in the extracellular fluid became apparent during the period of ischemia and continued to increase during the subsequent 90 min of reperfusion. These results suggest that ischemia evokes a release of neurotransmitter amino acids that is only partially dependent upon Ca2+ influx activation or the reversal of amino acid transporters. Nonselective mechanisms, resulting from the disruption of plasma membrane integrity, may contribute significantly to the total ischemia-evoked release of excitatory amino acids.