Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0004352 (autism)
 32,579 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Membrane vesicles, isolated after osmotic shock of synaptosomal rat brain fractions, actively accumulate L-glutamate. This process requires the presence of external sodium ions and internal potassium ions and is driven by artifically imposed ion gradients as the sole energy source. Either an Na+ gradient (out is greater than in) or a K+ gradient (in is greater than out) or both can be utilized to concentrate L-glutamate inside the vesicles. Transport is enhanced by valinomycin or by external thiocyanate ions and is about 50% inhibited by the proton ionophore carbonyl cyanide m-chlorophenylhydrazone. This transport thus appears to be stimulated by a membrane potential (interior negative). The glutamate transporter, the Km of which has been determined to be 3 micrometer, is specific for L-glutamate. The transport process is unaffected by ouabain but is strongly inhibited by p-hydroxymercuribenzoate as well as by nigericin, which collapses the energizing ion gradients across this membrane. Unlike the sodium dependent, but potassium independent active accumulation of gamma-aminobutyric acid in these vesicles (Kanner, B.I. (1978) Biochemistry 17, 1207) active L-glutamate uptake is not dependent on the presence of small monovalent anions in the external medium. The results provide direct evidence for Na+-coupled electrogenic active L-glutamate transport by rat brain membrane vesicles. The dependence on internal potassium ions is discussed.
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PMID:Active transport of L-glutamate by membrane vesicles isolated from rat brain. 70 89

6R-L-erythro-5, 6, 7, 8-Tetrahydrobiopterin (6R-BH4) is known as a cofactor for the hydroxylases of phenylalanine, tyrosine and tryptophan and also as a cofactor for nitric oxide synthase. Recently, a novel function of 6R-BH4 has been found: that is, 6R-BH4 acts on specific membrane receptors to directly stimulate the release of monamine neurotransmitters such as dopamine and serotonin, independently of its cofactor activity. In addition, it indirectly stimulates the release of non-monoamine neurotransmitters such as acetylcholine and glutamate, through activation of monoaminergic systems. In this paper, we briefly review recent experimental data, which provide new insights into the role of 6R-BH4 as a regulator of neuronal function. We also discuss the possibility of treatment by 6R-BH4 of neuropsychiatric diseases such as Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, depression and infantile autism.
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PMID:[A novel function of tetrahydrobiopterin]. 136 Nov 76

There are some evidences to propose blood platelets as a model of bioaminergic neurons. Similarities between platelets and neurons are particularly important with respect to serotonin metabolism but now it is possible to extend this model to other neurotransmitters such as dopamine, GABA, glutamate... The reason for these similarities may be due to the common embryonic origin of these two very different cell types. Some changes of platelet functions are observed in psychiatric syndromes. For example: serotonin uptake, bioamine storage, enzymatic activities are modified in different types of depression and schizophrenia, infantile autism, neurologic diseases (migraine, chorea, Down syndrom). Furthermore, psychotropic drugs also alter the platelet functions. Recently, the discovery of neuro-endocrine disorders in psychiatric diseases has led to the proposal of platelets as a model in neuro-endocrinology. Some arguments can be developed to support this hypothesis. In biological psychiatry, the platelet model seems actually useful essentially in the classification of psychiatric diseases, the management of treatments and the study of new psychotropic drugs. However methodologic difficulties still presently limit the development of this model.
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PMID:[Blood platelets: neuronal model in psychiatric disorders]. 286 6

Synaptic plasma membrane vesicles isolated from rat brain were loaded with L-glutamate either passively, by using a freeze-thaw technique, or by active transport. Subsequently the ion dependency of glutamate efflux from these vesicles was studied. With each of the types of loading similar results were obtained. Efflux requires the simultaneous presence of internal sodium ions and external potassium ions. The process is also stimulated by chloride ions, but either internal or external chloride ions cause stimulation. Addition of unlabeled L-glutamate stimulates efflux about 2-fold. It is concluded that efflux of L-glutamate is in many aspects symmetrical with its influx [Kanner, B. I., & Sharon, I. (1978) Biochemistry 17, 3949--3954]. It appears that in order for L-glutamate to interact with the transporter, sodium has to be present on the same side as L-glutamate whereas potassium has to be simultaneously present on the opposite site. The simplest way to account for these and the previous data is to postulate that the L-glutamate transporter catalyzes sodium and L-glutamate cotransport, while it simultaneously catalyzes antiport of potassium.
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PMID:Efflux of L-glutamate by synaptic plasma membrane vesicles isolated from rat brain. 612 9

Based on 1) neuroanatomical and neuroimaging studies indicating aberrations in brain regions that are rich in glutamate neurons and 2) similarities between symptoms produced by N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) antagonists in healthy subjects and those seen in autism, it is proposed in the present paper that infantile autism is a hypoglutamatergic disorder. Possible future pharmacological interventions in autism are discussed in the light of the intimate interplay between central glutamate and serotonin, notably the serotonin (5-HT) 2A receptor. The possible benefit of treatment with glutamate agonists [e.g. agents acting on the modulatory glycine site of the NMDA receptor, or so-called ampakines acting on the alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole propionic acid (AMPA) receptor] is discussed, as well as the potential usefulness of a selective 5-HT2A receptor antagonist.
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PMID:Hypothesis: is infantile autism a hypoglutamatergic disorder? Relevance of glutamate - serotonin interactions for pharmacotherapy. 972 Sep 80

The excitatory neurotransmitter glutamate is removed from the synaptic cleft by several related sodium- and potassium-coupled transporters. They thereby restrict the neurotoxicity of this transmitter. Based on the accessibility of single cysteines to the large sulfhydryl reagent 3-N-maleimidyl(propionyl)biocytin, we have proposed a topological model for the astroglial glutamate transporter GLT-1 (Grunewald, M., Bendahan, A. and Kanner, B. I. (1998) Neuron 21, 623-632). Because of several unexpected observations, we have investigated the topological disposition of 19 cysteine residues engineered into a loop proposed to be intracellular. We have probed the accessibility of these cysteines to small and large sulfhydryl reagents. The impermeant hydrophilic sulfhydryl reagent [(2-trimethylammonium)ethyl] methanethiosulfonate inhibits transport activity only at two of these positions, weakly at G365C and potently at A364C. Glutamate and its nontransportable analogue dihydrokainate markedly protect A364C transporters against this impermeant reagent. Using a biotinylated maleimide, we found that, among the 14 mutants tested with it, only A364C is accessible to it from the extracellular side. This, together with our previous observations, indicates that the loop-including amino acid residues 354, 359, 373, and 379-is largely intracellular, but a short region of it forms a reentrant pore-loop-like structure, the accessibility of which is dependent on the conformation of the transporter.
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PMID:The accessibility of a novel reentrant loop of the glutamate transporter GLT-1 is restricted by its substrate. 1073 20

In autism, glutamate may be increased or its receptors up-regulated as part of an excitotoxic process that damages neural networks and subsequently contributes to behavioral and cognitive deficits seen in the disorder. This was a double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel group study of lamotrigine, an agent that modulates glutamate release. Twenty-eight children (27 boys) ages 3 to 11 years (M = 5.8) with a primary diagnosis of autistic disorder received either placebo or lamotrigine twice daily. In children on lamotrigine, the drug was titrated upward over 8 weeks to reach a mean maintenance dose of 5.0 mg/kg per day. This dose was then maintained for 4 weeks. Following maintenance evaluations, the drug was tapered down over 2 weeks. The trial ended with a 4-week drug-free period. Outcome measures included improvements in severity and behavioral features of autistic disorder (stereotypies, lethargy, irritability, hyperactivity, emotional reciprocity, sharing pleasures) and improvements in language and communication, socialization, and daily living skills noted after 12 weeks (the end of a 4-week maintenance phase). We did not find any significant differences in improvements between lamotrigine or placebo groups on the Autism Behavior Checklist, the Aberrant Behavior Checklist, the Vineland Adaptive Behavior scales, the PL-ADOS, or the CARS. Parent rating scales showed marked improvements, presumably due to expectations of benefits.
J Autism Dev Disord 2001 Apr
PMID:Lamotrigine therapy for autistic disorder: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. 1145 Aug 16

It has been proposed that activation of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) can activate the prefrontal cortex, enhancing attention and cognition. Nicotine can stimulate the release of several different neurotransmitters in many brain regions. In the present study, we found that stimulation of nAChRs by nicotine or the endogenous agonist, acetylcholine (ACh), induces a large spontaneous increase in glutamate release onto layer V pyramidal neurons of the prefrontal cortex. This release of glutamate, measured by spontaneous excitatory postsynaptic currents (sEPSCs) in the prefrontal cortical slice, depends on intact thalamocortical terminals. It can be suppressed by mu-opioids or eliminated by blocking action potentials. The increase in sEPSCs is sensitive to low concentrations of nicotine, suggesting the involvement of high-affinity (eg alpha(4)beta(2)) nAChRs. Recent work has shown alterations in prefrontal alpha(4)beta(2) nAChRs in autism and schizophrenia, two conditions that are distinguished by abnormal prefrontal cortical activation as well as difficulty in certain aspects of cognition and integrating social and emotional cues. We show that mice lacking the beta(2) nAChR subunit do not show increased sEPSCs with either nicotine or ACh, again implicating high-affinity nicotinic receptors. These findings give new insight into the mechanism by which nicotine affects excitatory neurotransmission to the output neurons of the cerebral cortex in a pathway that is critical for cognitive function and reward expectation.
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PMID:Nicotine induces glutamate release from thalamocortical terminals in prefrontal cortex. 1258 74

In assessing and assimilating the neurodevelopmental basis of the so-called movement disorders it is probably useful to establish certain concepts that will modulate both the variation and selection of affliction, mechanisms-processes and diversity of disease states. Both genetic, developmental and degenerative aberrations are to be encompassed within such an approach, as well as all deviations from the necessary components of behaviour that are generally understood to incorporate "normal" functioning. In the present treatise, both conditions of hyperactivity/hypoactivity, akinesia and bradykinesia together with a constellation of other symptoms and syndromes are considered in conjunction with the neuropharmacological and brain morphological alterations that may or may not accompany them, e.g. following neonatal denervation. As a case in point, the neuroanatomical and neurochemical points of interaction in Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are examined with reference to both the perinatal metallic and organic environment and genetic backgrounds. The role of apoptosis, as opposed to necrosis, in cell death during brain development necessitates careful considerations of the current explosion of evidence for brain nerve growth factors, neurotrophins and cytokines, and the processes regulating their appearance, release and fate. Some of these processes may possess putative inherited characteristics, like alpha-synuclein, others may to greater or lesser extents be endogenous or semi-endogenous (in food), like the tetrahydroisoquinolines, others exogenous until inhaled or injested through environmental accident, like heavy metals, e.g. mercury. Another central concept of neurodevelopment is cellular plasticity, thereby underlining the essential involvement of glutamate systems and N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor configurations. Finally, an essential assimilation of brain development in disease must delineate the relative merits of inherited as opposed to environmental risks not only for the commonly-regarded movement disorders, like Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease and epilepsy, but also for afflictions bearing strong elements of psychosocial tragedy, like ADHD, autism and Savantism.
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PMID:Brain sites of movement disorder: genetic and environmental agents in neurodevelopmental perturbations. 1283 21

Methamphetamine (METH)-induced neurotoxicity is characterized by a long-lasting depletion of striatal dopamine (DA) and serotonin as well as damage to striatal dopaminergic and serotonergic nerve terminals. Several hypotheses regarding the mechanism underlying METH-induced neurotoxicity have been proposed. In particular, it is thought that endogenous DA in the striatum may play an important role in mediating METH-induced neuronal damage. This hypothesis is based on the observation of free radical formation and oxidative stress produced by auto-oxidation of DA consequent to its displacement from synaptic vesicles to cytoplasm. In addition, METH-induced neurotoxicity may be linked to the glutamate and nitric oxide systems within the striatum. Moreover, using knockout mice lacking the DA transporter, the vesicular monoamine transporter 2, c-fos, or nitric oxide synthetase, it was determined that these factors may be connected in some way to METH-induced neurotoxicity. Finally a role for apoptosis in METH-induced neurotoxicity has also been established including evidence of protection of bcl-2, expression of p53 protein, and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick-end labeling (TUNEL), activity of caspase-3. The neuronal damage induced by METH may reflect neurological disorders such as autism and Parkinson's disease.
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PMID:Current research on methamphetamine-induced neurotoxicity: animal models of monoamine disruption. 1289 Aug 83


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