13C Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Studies of Alterations in Glutamate Neurotransmission

Over the past a few years, significant progress has been made in refining the in vivo 13C magnetic resonance spectroscopy technique and in applying it to studying the alterations in the glutamate-glutamine cycling flux. Meanwhile, the details of the metabolic modeling are being rigorously debated. Recent evidence against fast α-ketoglutarate-glutamate exchange across the mitochondrial membrane is examined. Previous reports have indicated that glutamate release or 13C label incorporation into glutamine is attenuated at elevated concentrations of endogenous γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA). A recent study has shown that phenelzine administration reduces the glutamate-glutamine cycling flux while raising endogenous GABA levels in vivo. Effects of several metabotropic glutamate receptor agonists and antagonists and brain disorders on the glutamate-glutamine cycle are also summarized.