Premium
Cerebrospinal fluid quinolinic acid concentrations are increased in acquired immune deficiency syndrome
Author(s) -
Hayes Melvyn P.,
Rubinow David,
Lane Clifford,
Markey Sanford P.
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
annals of neurology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.764
H-Index - 296
eISSN - 1531-8249
pISSN - 0364-5134
DOI - 10.1002/ana.410260215
Subject(s) - quinolinic acid , cerebrospinal fluid , immune system , medicine , immunology , pathology , biology , biochemistry , amino acid , tryptophan
Dementia and brain atrophy are established features of a large proportion of patients with acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). To investigate a potential mechanism for atrophy in AIDS, we measured the concentration of the endogenous neurotoxin quinolinic acid in the cerebrospinal fluid of 10 patients with AIDS and found that they had 3‐fold higher quinolinic acid concentrations than 9 age‐matched control subjects: 53.8 10.7 pmol/ml versus 18.4 3.4 pmol/ml, respectively ( p 0.005). It remains to be determined whether increased brain quinolinic acid concentrations are involved in the pathogenesis of the neuropathology of AIDS.