Neuroprotective effect of phenylsuccinate, an inhibitor of cytosolic glutamate formation from glutamine, under anoxic conditions but not during exposure to exogenous glutamate.

Phenylsuccinate is an inhibitor of cytosolic glutamate formation from extracellular glutamine in cultured cerebellar granule cell neurons, a glutamatergic preparation. It prevents anoxic cell death in these cells as indicated by decreased lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release and by the morphological appearance of the cells after the insult. In contrast, it does not prevent neurotoxicity by added glutamate because it is not an antagonist of the glutamate receptor.