Genetic variation influences glutamate concentrations in brains of patients with multiple sclerosis.

ABSTRACT: Glutamate is the main excitatory neurotransmitter in the mammalian brain. Appropriate transmission of nerve impulses through glutamatergic synapses is required throughout the brain and forms the basis of many processes including learning and memory. However, abnormally high levels of extracellular brain glutamate can lead to neuroaxonal cell death. We have previously reported elevated glutamate levels in the brains of patients suffering from multiple sclerosis. Here two complementary analyses to assess the extent of genomic control over glutamate levels were used. First, a genome-wide association analysis in 382 patients with multiple sclerosis using brain glutamate concentration as a quantitative trait was conducted. In a second approach, a protein interaction network was used to find ass

SUBMITTER: Baranzini SE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2929334 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature