Effect of glycine and glycine receptor antagonists on NMDA-induced brain injury

John E. Uckele, John W. McDonald, Michael V. Johnston, Faye S. Silverstein

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

29 Scopus citations

Abstract

In postnatal day 7 rats, a unilateral intrastriatal injection of 12.5 nmol of N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) reproducibly injures the ipsilateral striatum, adjacent hippocampus and overlying cortex. The severity of injury can be quantified by comparing cerebral hemisphere weights in animals sacrificed 5 days after the injection. Co-injection of NMDA and the glycine receptor antagonists kynurenic acid (KYN) or 7-chlorokynurenic acid (7-CKA) reduced the severity of NMDA-induced damage in a dose-dependent fashion. One hundred nmol of KYN with 12.5 nmol of NMDA reduced average % damage from 19.3±0.9% (n=9) to 2.3±0.5% (n=6), P<0.001, ANOVA. Co-injection of 40 nmol of 7-CKA with 12.5 nmol of NMDA (n=6) reduced average % damage from 17.1±1.6% (n=15) to 3.0±0.6%, P<0.001, ANOVA. Concurrent injection of 1000 nmol glycine with 5 nmol NMDA did not increase the extent of NMDA-induced damage. Our results demonstrate that glycine receptor antagonists attenuate NMDA-induced brain injury in vivo.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)279-283
Number of pages5
JournalNeuroscience Letters
Volume107
Issue number1-3
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 15 1989
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Neuroscience

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