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Increased Cerebrospinal Fluid Quinolinic Acid, Kynurenic Acid, and L‐Kynurenine in Acute Septicemia
Author(s) -
Heyes Melvyn P.,
Lackner Andrew
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
journal of neurochemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.75
H-Index - 229
eISSN - 1471-4159
pISSN - 0022-3042
DOI - 10.1111/j.1471-4159.1990.tb08857.x
Subject(s) - quinolinic acid , kynurenic acid , kynurenine , kynurenine pathway , cerebrospinal fluid , indoleamine 2,3 dioxygenase , chemistry , excitatory postsynaptic potential , receptor , medicine , endocrinology , glutamate receptor , biology , pharmacology , biochemistry , amino acid , tryptophan
Increases in brain quinolinic acid have been implicated in neurodegeneration and convulsions that may accompany infectious diseases. In three rhesus macaques ( Macaca mulatta ) with septicemia, both CSF and serum quinolinic acid concentrations were markedly elevated and were accompanied by increases in CSF kynurenic acid levels that were of a smaller magnitude. Elevated serum and CSF L‐kynurenine concentrations also occurred and are consistent with activation of indoleamine‐2,3‐dioxygenase and increased substrate flux through the kynurenine pathway. Although it is probable that the marked increases in CSF quinolinic acid and kynurenic acid concentrations are reflected in the extracellular fluid space of brain, it remains to be determined whether the magnitude of such increases influences the activity of excitatory amino acid receptors in brain to produce excitotoxic pathology or noncytolytic disruption of functions mediated by excitatory amino acid receptors.