title: Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in cerebrospinal fluid.
abstract: Levels of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) were measured by radioreceptor assay (RRA) in 25 normal controls and in 121 patients with various central nervous system disorders. CSF-GABA levels could be measured down to 5 pmoles/ml reliably by this assay. In normal controls, the mean (+/- SEM) GABA level in CSF was 127 +/- 5.2 pmoles/ml. There was no correlation between age, sex and the CSF-GABA level in normal controls. The lowest CSF-GABA level, which was 60 +/- 6.0 pmoles/ml, was observed in alcoholic patients suffering from cerebellar ataxia. The CSF-GABA levels were quite low in patients with Alzheimer's disease, late cortical cerebellar atrophy, neuro-Behçet's syndrome, olivopontocerebellar atrophy, Huntington's chorea, Parkinson's disease and cerebral hemorrhage. On the other hand, the CSF-GABA levels of meningitis patients were significantly increased. These findings suggest that measuring the CSF-GABA level is quite beneficial in the diagnosis and pathophysiological determinations of some diseases.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001528:Behcet Syndrome / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid; D002526:Cerebellar Diseases / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid; D002544:Cerebral Infarction / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid; D003704:Dementia / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006816:Huntington Disease / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid; D008297:Male; D008581:Meningitis / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid; D011869:Radioligand Assay; D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*
chemical_list: D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid