Abstract
An imbalance between glutamate and glycine signalling may contribute to sepsis-associated encephalopathy by causing neuronal excitotoxicity. In this study, we therefore investigated the transcerebral exchange kinetics of glutamate and glycine in a human-experimental model of systemic inflammation. Cerebral blood flow (CBF) and arterial to jugular venous concentration differences of glutamate and glycine were determined before and after a 4-h intravenous infusion of Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide (LPS, total dose of 0.3 ng/kg) in 12 healthy volunteers. The global cerebral net exchange was calculated by multiplying CBF with the arterial to jugular venous differences. LPS induced a systemic inflammatory response with fever, neutrocytosis, and elevated arterial levels of tumour necrosis factor-α. This was associated with a decrease in the arterial levels of both glutamate and glycine; however, their transcerebral exchange kinetics were unaffected. Inflammation-induced alterations of the circulating levels of glutamate and glycine, do not affect the global transcerebral exchange kinetics of these amino acids in healthy humans.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | A P M I S. Acta Pathologica, Microbiologica et Immunologica Scandinavica |
| Volume | 120 |
| Issue number | 9 |
| Pages (from-to) | 761-6 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| ISSN | 0903-4641 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Sept 2012 |
