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Glutamate and Huntington's Disease
Author(s) -
Sanberg Paul R.,
Johnston Graham A.
Publication year - 1981
Publication title -
medical journal of australia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1326-5377
pISSN - 0025-729X
DOI - 10.5694/j.1326-5377.1981.tb112939.x
Subject(s) - glutamate receptor , huntington's disease , neurotransmitter , neuroscience , neurotransmission , disease , pathogenesis , kainate receptor , neurotransmitter systems , medicine , psychology , central nervous system , dopamine , ampa receptor , receptor
Very small injections of kainate (an analogue of the neurotransmitter, glutamate) into rat neostriatum have been shown to duplicate remarkably well neural and behavioural abnormalities seen in Huntington's disease (HD). This experimental procedure provided an excellent model system for investigating the pathogenesis and treatment of HD. Work with the animal model has suggested that abnormal glutamate neurotransmission may underlie the neuropathological changes found in HD. At present, research is being performed on all aspects of this hypothesis in order to find possible beneficial treatments for sufferers of the disease.