RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Plasma Glutamate and Glycine Levels in Patients with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
JF In Vivo
JO In Vivo
FD International Institute of Anticancer Research
SP 137
OP 141
VO 22
IS 1
A1 ELISABETH ANDREADOU
A1 ELISABETH KAPAKI
A1 PANAGIOTIS KOKOTIS
A1 GEORGE P. PARASKEVAS
A1 NIKOLAOS KATSAROS
A1 GEORGIA LIBITAKI
A1 OLGA PETROPOULOU
A1 VASSILIOS ZIS
A1 CONSTANTINOS SFAGOS
A1 DEMETRIOS VASSILOPOULOS
YR 2008
UL http://iv.iiarjournals.org/content/22/1/137.abstract
AB Defective glutamate (Glu) metabolism and glutamate excitotoxicity have been implicated in the pathogenesis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Glycine (Gly), the main inhibitory neurotransmitter, has been shown to potentiate excitatory transmission. In the present study, the levels of Glu and Gly in fasting plasma were measured by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) in 20 healthy volunteers and in 65 untreated ALS patients. Increased plasma Glu levels were observed in ALS (p=0.05), correlating with longer disease duration (p=0.03, beta=0.34) and male gender (p=0.02). Furthermore, the increase was found only in the spinal subtype of the disease (p=0.03), while in the bulbar subtype, no significant increase was noted. As regards plasma Gly, no difference was observed between patients and controls; however female patients had higher levels than males. The above results are compatible with the “glutamate hypothesis” of ALS and suggest that the spinal and bulbar-onset subtypes of the disease may be biochemically different. Copyright © 2008 International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. John G. Delinassios), All rights reserved