title: Glutamine synthetase activity in patients with Parkinson's disease.
abstract: According to current concepts, the excitatory amino acid glutamate is involved in the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease (PD). Overactivity of glutamatergic projection neurons and beneficial effect of antiglutamatergic substances in animal experiments suggest that excess supply of glutamate might contribute to the pathophysiology of PD. Reduced activity of the glutamate metabolizing enzyme glutamine synthetase (GS) leads to decreased uptake of glutamate and thus abundant glutamate. Here we report that PD patients and age-matched controls are comparable with respect to GS activity in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). These results imply no systemic dysregulation of the enzyme GS in patients with PD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University of Frankfurt/Main, Germany.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zipp
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Demisch
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Derouiche
authors.forename: P A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Fischer
mesh_terms: D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D005974:Glutamate-Ammonia Ligase / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000201:enzymology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000201:enzymology*
chemical_list: D005974:Glutamate-Ammonia Ligase