A Pharmacological Aspect on Glutamic Acid Metabolism in Brain: I. Transamination and Associated Deamidation of Glutamine to α-Keto Acid in Brain

Abstract

In 1948, Richter and Dawson (1) reported that electrical stimulation caused a sharp increment in ammonia concentration of brain. In addition, they pointed out the pharmacologically interesting facts, that the administration of ammonium chloride resulted in a cramp, and in a rise in ammonia content of brain to about the same level as that found in the electrically stimulated brain tissue. Noda (2) in our laboratory studied on the effect of some stimulants on the metabolism open to glutamic acid in brain, and suggested pharmacologically that ammonia arising on the excitation of brain is coming from some other enzymic systems than glutamic acid dehydrogenase, glutaminase, glutamine synthetic enzyme and so on, upon which he carried his experiments.