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Query: UMLS:C0002736 (
amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
)
19,048
document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)
Measurements were taken of the activity of glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) and the levels of transmitter amino acids in anatomically dissected regions of cervical and lumbar spinal cord in eight patients dying with
amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
(
ALS
) and in 11 neurologically normal controls. GDH activity was considerably increased in lateral and ventral white matter and in the dorsal horn of the
ALS
cervical spinal cord, but normal in the ventral horn and the dorsal columns. Similar, although less pronounced, GDH changes were found in the lumbar enlargement. The mean concentrations of aspartate and glutamate were reduced in all regions of
ALS
spinal cord investigated.
Taurine
concentrations were significantly increased in several subdivisions of cervical spinal cord, but normal in lumbar regions. Glycine levels were significantly reduced in lumbar ventral and dorsal horns. There was no striking change in spinal cord GABA levels in our
ALS
patients. It is suggested that the reduced levels of glutamate and aspartate as well as the elevated GDH activity in the spinal cord of
ALS
patients may reflect an overactivity of the neurons releasing these potentially excitotoxic amino acids and thus may be causally related to the spinal neuro-degenerative changes characteristic of
ALS
.
...
PMID:Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: glutamate dehydrogenase and transmitter amino acids in the spinal cord. 168 99
Amino acid contents were measured in autopsied brains of eight patients with the sporadic form of
amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
(
ALS
) and in brains of control subjects dying without neurologic or psychiatric disease. Glutamic acid content was reduced in most brain regions and in the cervical cord in the
ALS
patients, while glutamine contents were normal.
Taurine
contents were increased, and gamma-aminobutyric acid contents were decreased in some brain regions in the
ALS
patients. The brain glutamate deficiency in
ALS
is unexplained, but insufficient production or release of this excitatory neurotransmitter might have important secondary effects on motor neurons.
...
PMID:Brain glutamate deficiency in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. 289 Oct 83
