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Acute Alterations of Glutamate, Glutamine, GABA, and Other Amino Acids After Spinal Cord Contusion in Rats

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Abstract

Spinal cord injury (SCI) leads to an alteration of energetic metabolism. As a consequence, glutamate, glutamine, aspartate and other important amino acids are altered after damage, leading to important disregulation of the neurochemical pathways. In the present study, we characterized the acute-phase changes in tissue concentration of amino acids involved in neurotransmitter and non-neurotransmitter actions after SCI by contusion in rats. Animals were submitted to either laminectomy or SCI by contusion and sacrificed at 2, 4, 8, and 12 h after lesion, for the analysis of tissue amino acids by HPLC. Results showed that both aspartate and glutamate contents diminished after SCI, while glutamine concentrations raised, however, the sum of molar concentrations of glutamate plus glutamine remained unchanged at all time points. GABA concentrations increased versus control group, while glycine remained unchanged. Finally, citrulline levels increased by effect of SCI, while taurine-increased only 4 h after lesion. Results indicate complex acute-phase changes in amino acids concentrations after SCI, reflecting the different damaging processes unchained after lesion.

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Acknowledgment

This work was supported by CONACyT grant No. 47467.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Neuroquímica, Instituto Nacional de Neurología y Neurocirugía Manuel Velasco Suarez, Ave. Insurgentes Sur No. 3877, Mexico City, DF, 14269, Mexico

    Araceli Diaz-Ruiz, Sergio Montes, Valente Maldonado, Luis Tristan, Mireya Alcaraz-Zubeldia & Camilo Ríos

  2. Unidad de Investigación Médica en Enfermedades Neurológicas, Hospital de Especialidades, Centro Médico, Nacional Siglo XXI, Mexico

    Hermelinda Salgado-Ceballos

  3. Centro de Investigación del proyecto CAMINA A.C., Mexico City, Mexico

    Hermelinda Salgado-Ceballos

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  1. Araceli Diaz-Ruiz
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  2. Hermelinda Salgado-Ceballos
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  3. Sergio Montes
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  4. Valente Maldonado
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  5. Luis Tristan
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  6. Mireya Alcaraz-Zubeldia
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  7. Camilo Ríos
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Correspondence to Camilo Ríos.

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Diaz-Ruiz, A., Salgado-Ceballos, H., Montes, S. et al. Acute Alterations of Glutamate, Glutamine, GABA, and Other Amino Acids After Spinal Cord Contusion in Rats. Neurochem Res 32, 57–63 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11064-006-9225-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11064-006-9225-5

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