[Detection of amino acid neurotransmitters in cerebrospinal fluid of patients in persistent vegetative state].
OBJECTIVE
To detect the amino acid neurotransmitters in cerebrospinal fluid of patients in persistent vegetative state (PVS) to define their relation to the clinical manifestations of the patients.


METHODS
The cerebrospinal fluid from 46 patients in PVS and 20 control patients were collected for detection of glutamic acid, aspartic acid, alanine and glycine by high-performance liquid chromatography.


RESULTS
All the four amino acids were separated by chromatography within 25 min. The contents of all the 4 neurotransmitters in PVS group were higher than those in the control group, and their contents were inversely correlated to PVS score of the patients. The differences in the concentration of glycine and alanine were significant between PVS patients and the control patients (P<0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
The patient's clinical manifestations are related to the contents of amino acid neurotransmitters in the cerebrospinal fluid of PVS patients.
Guo
Yan-wu
YW
Department of Neurosurgery, Institute of Neuroscience, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510282, China. dguoyanwu@163.com
Xu
Ru-xiang
RX
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000409:Alanine / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*; D001224:Aspartic Acid / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000150:complications; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D018698:Glutamic Acid / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*; D005998:Glycine / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018458:Persistent Vegetative State / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid* / Q000209:etiology
D001224:Aspartic Acid; D018698:Glutamic Acid; D000409:Alanine; D005998:Glycine