Excitotoxicity: an overview

Abstract

I have reviewed information pertaining to the acidic amino acid analogs of glutamate that have neurotoxic (excitotoxic) activity and pointed out that kainate is the most potent excitotoxin that has been subjected to intensive investigation. Although there is very little published evidence pertaining to domoate neurotoxicity, all available evidence supports the conclusion that the neuroactive properties of domoate are mediated through kainate receptors. Preliminary evidence that domoate powerfully induces a kainate-like seizure-brain damage syndrome in experimental animals further supports involvement of kainate receptors in domoate neurotoxicity. Moreover, the close similarity between this neurotoxic syndrome in experimental animals and the clinical picture witnessed in Canadian victims of mussel poisoning lends further credence to the assumption that this poisoning incident was caused by an interaction between the domoate molecule and kainate receptors in the human central nervous system.