Homocysteic acid, an endogenous agonist of NMDA-receptor: release, neuroactivity and localization.

Abstract

Many lines of evidence are pointing toward a role of the excitatory amino acid transmitters and their receptors in the mechanisms leading to epileptic seizure disorders. Various excitatory amino acids and structural analogs, such as kainic acid, quinolinic acid or ibotenic acid, initiate epilepticlike discharges when applied to nervous tissue (Ben-Ari et al.,1979; French et al.,1982; Schwarcz et al., 1984). Changes in excitatory amino acid content in cerebral tissue and cerebrospinal fluid have been reported to occur in various animal models and human epileptic conditions (Van Gelder et al., 1972; Morselli et al., 1981).Most convincing are the potent anticonvulsanteffects of D-2-amino-7-phosphonoheptanoic acid (AP-7), a specific N-methyl-D-aspartic acid (NMDA) receptor antagonist, in several animal models of epilepsy (Croucher et al.,1982; Meldrum et al., 1983).KeywordsHigh Pressure Liquid ChromatographyExcitatory Amino AcidKainic AcidQuinolinic AcidCysteic AcidThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.