N-methyl d-aspartate receptor antibody encephalitis can often be a paraneoplastic manifestation of occult malignancy such as ovarian teratoma and rarely teratoma of mediastinum or testis and small cell lung carcinoma. We report a case of non-paraneoplastic anti-N-methyl d-aspartate receptor antibody-positive autoimmune encephalitis in a young patient who presented with neuropsychiatric features...

Polymicrogyria is a malformation of cortical development. The aetiology of polymicrogyria remains poorly understood. Using whole-exome sequencing we found de novo heterozygous missense GRIN1 mutations in 2 of 57 parent-offspring trios with polymicrogyria. We found nine further de novo missense GRIN1 mutations in additional cortical malformation patients. Shared features in the patients were ext...

Blockade of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABAA) receptors in the anterior basolateral amygdala (BLA) with bicuculline methiodide results in an increase in heart rate, blood pressure and "anxiety" in rats. Glutamate receptors in the BLA are also reported to be involved in eliciting anxiety responses. The purpose of this study was to investigate the interaction between GABAergic inhibition and glutam...

Cyanide can potentiate N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor-mediated physiological responses in neurons. Here we show that this phenomenon may be attributable to a subunit-specific chemical modification of the receptor directly by the toxin. N-Methyl-D-aspartate (30 microM)-induced whole cell responses in mature (22-29 days in vitro) rat cortical neurons were potentiated nearly 2-fold by a 3-5-min tre...

UNLABELLED Recent evidence has resurrected the idea that the amino acid aspartate, a selective NMDA receptor agonist, is a neurotransmitter. Using a mouse that lacks the glutamate-selective vesicular transporter VGLUT1, we find that glutamate alone fully accounts for the activation of NMDA receptors at excitatory synapses in the hippocampus. This excludes a role for aspartate and, by extension,...

D-Aspartic acid is an endogenous amino acid occurring in the endocrine glands as well as in the nervous system of various animal phyla. Our previous studies have provided evidence that D-aspartate plays a role in the induction of estradiol synthesis in gonads. Recently, we have also demonstrated that D-aspartic acid induces P450 aromatase mRNA expression in the frog (Pelophylax esculentus) test...

Taurine is thought to be protective in ischemia due to its neuroinhibitory effects. The present aim was to assess the ability of taurine to attenuate glutamate release evoked by ischemia and to determine which component of this release is affected. The release of preloaded D-[(3)H]aspartate (a non-metabolized analog of glutamate) from superfused murine corticostriatal slices was used as index o...

None of the receptor ligands studied: the dopamine D2 antagonist eticlopride, D2/D3 antagonist haloperidol, alpha1-adrenergic antagonist prazosin, N-methyl-D-aspartate antagonist MK-801, 5-HT2/D2 antagonist mianserin, D2/D3 agonist quinpirole and alpha2-adrenergic agonist clonidine co-administrated with repeated amphetamine (AMPH) injections blocked the AMPH-induced decrease in the striatal and...