Regional excitatory and inhibitory amino acid levels in epileptic El mouse brain.

Inbred mutant El mice are highly susceptible to convulsive seizures upon "tossing" stimulation. The levels of excitatory (e.g. glutamate and aspartate) and inhibitory amino acids [e.g. gamma-amino-butyrate (GABA)] were examined in discrete regions of stimulated El mice [El(+)], non-stimulated El mice [El(-)] and ddY mice, which do not have convulsive disposition. In comparison with ddY, a general increased levels of aspartate, glutamate, glutamine, and taurine were detected in brain regions of El(-). The levels of GABA and glycine were almost the same in ddY and El(-). Compared to El(+), the levels of aspartate, glutamate, glutamine, and GABA in El(-) were either the same or higher. In the case of taurine and glycine, the levels in El(-) were either the same or lower than El(+). Alanine is special in that El(-) have a higher level than El(+) in hippocampus but lower in cerebellum. Furthermore, while marked changes were registered in several brain regions, none of the amino acids investigated showed any significant differences in the hypothalamus of three different groups of mice.