title: Effect of riluzole (Rilutek) treatment on plasma amino acid percentages in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients.
abstract: The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of riluzole (Rilutek) treatment on plasma amino acids (AA) percentage capacity in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients. Excitatory AA may be important in the pathogenesis of ALS. Riluzole is a neuroprotective drug that blocks glutamatergic neurotransmission in the central nervous system. The study was conducted at the Department of Neurology, University School of Medicine in Lublin. The study comprised 20 ALS patients. Plasma AA were measured by automated ion-exchange chromatography before and after 3 months of riluzole treatment. The study has shown a significant decrease in serine percentage capacity and a significant increase in isoleucine percentage capacity in the plasma of the ALS patients, however the plasma excitatory AA percentage capacity was not significantly changed after 3 months of the riluzole treatment. Our investigations revealed that riluzole does not significantly influence the majority of plasma AA percentage capacity in ALS patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University School of Medicine, Jaczewskiego 8, 20-954 Lublin, Poland.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Iłzecka
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Stelmasiak
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Solski
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wawrzycki
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Szpetnar
mesh_terms: D000596:Amino Acids / Q000097:blood*; D000690:Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis / Q000097:blood* / Q000188:drug therapy; D002852:Chromatography, Ion Exchange; D018691:Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019782:Riluzole / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric
chemical_list: D000596:Amino Acids; D018691:Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists; D019782:Riluzole