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Review
. 2021 Dec;99(12):3148-3189.
doi: 10.1002/jnr.24977. Epub 2021 Nov 8.

Glia: A major player in glutamate-GABA dysregulation-mediated neurodegeneration

Anika Sood  1 , Kumari Preeti  1 , Valencia Fernandes  1 , Dharmendra Kumar Khatri  1 , Shashi Bala Singh  1
Affiliations
Review

Glia: A major player in glutamate-GABA dysregulation-mediated neurodegeneration

Anika Sood et al. J Neurosci Res. 2021 Dec.

Abstract

The imbalance between glutamate and γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) results in the loss of synaptic strength leading to neurodegeneration. The dogma on the field considered neurons as the main players in this excitation-inhibition (E/I) balance. However, current strategies focusing only on neurons have failed to completely understand this condition, bringing up the importance of glia as an alternative modulator for neuroinflammation as glia alter the activity of neurons and is a source of both neurotrophic and neurotoxic factors. This review's primary goal is to illustrate the role of glia over E/I balance in the central nervous system and its interaction with neurons. Rather than focusing only on the neuronal targets, we take a deeper look at glial receptors and proteins that could also be explored as drug targets, as they are early responders to neurotoxic insults. This review summarizes the neuron-glia interaction concerning GABA and glutamate, possible targets, and its involvement in the E/I imbalance in neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, and multiple sclerosis.

Keywords: astrocyte; excitotoxicity; microglia; oligodendrocytes; receptor.

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References

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