What is glutamate neurotoxicity?

The excitatory neurotransmitter glutamate plays a major role in determining certain neurological disorders. This situation, referred to as ‘glutamate neurotoxicity’ (GNT), is characterized by an increasing damage of cell components, including mitochondria, leading to cell death.

What causes glutamate neurotoxicity?

Glutamate-induced excitotoxicity is produced by excessive glutamate. It leads to neuronal injury by inducing an influx of calcium, which causes neuronal injury through the stimulation of Ca2+-dependent enzymes.

What is an excitotoxic lesion?

Excitotoxic lesions typically consist of acute or prolonged injection of neuroexcitatory acidic amino acids, such as quinolinic acid, a naturally occurring metabolite of tryptophan, the mitochondrial toxin, 3-nitropropionic acid, or exogenous excitotoxin kainic acid, to the striatum producing a characteristic axon- …

How does excitotoxicity affect the central nervous system?

Excitotoxicity may be involved in spinal cord injury, stroke, traumatic brain injury, hearing loss (through noise overexposure or ototoxicity ), and in neurodegenerative diseases of the central nervous system such as multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Parkinson’s disease, alcoholism,

Are there any chronic diseases linked to excitotoxicity?

Chronic diseases linked to excitotoxicity include Alzheimer’s disease, Huntington’s disease, and Parkinson’s disease. Despite the overwhelming evidence of excitotoxicity in these acute and chronic diseases and a variety of pharmacological interventions aimed at inhibiting these processes, very few treatments have shown efficacy in clinical trials.

How is excitotoxicity related to neuropathology in AD?

Excitotoxicity resulting from excessive activation of NMDA receptors may enhance the localized vulnerability of neurons in a manner consistent with AD neuropathology, as a consequence of an altered regional distribution of NMDA receptor subtypes.

When does excitotoxicity occur after a spinal cord injury?

This pathologic phenomenon can also occur after brain injury and spinal cord injury. Within minutes after spinal cord injury, damaged neural cells within the lesion site spill glutamate into the extracellular space where glutamate can stimulate presynaptic glutamate receptors to enhance the release of additional glutamate.